Catalyst
by justliving11
Summary: The darkness lingers around his life, encasing him in its shadows and tearing him apart from the inside out. When an agreement is met, one Uzumaki Naruto's life is about to be stripped of emotions and traded for him to be shaped and wielded in to the perfect weapon for them to handle. Can he find his place in a world where he was created for one purpose and one purpose only?
1. Prologue

_**cat·a·lyst**_

 _ **ˈkad(ə)ləst/ noun**_

 _ **a person or thing that precipitates an event.**_

* * *

Black clouds sprawl across the sky, spreading to devour every ounce of light the night could possibly produce. The wind picked up, howling, crying, and warning, giving little to the approaching storm. The first crack of lightning split through the sky within seconds and the exploding crackling of thunder reverberated overhead. Pattering of tiny raindrops sounded above the room, slow and steady at first before entering into a frenzy, practically dropping buckets upon buckets on the village.

A small candle illuminated the darkened room, the flashes of lightning showcasing it for a few fleeting seconds before sending it back into the dark. A man sat in a chair watching the storm unleash it's anger upon them, grand puffs of smoke curling around his head like a snake slithering around a tree. Across the room sat another man, one who wore bandages across half his body. His hands rested on a cane that leaned against him, his one visible eye shut in concentration. Another rumble of thunder sounded between them, causing the bandaged man to open his eye.

"She's been holding in her anger for a while for the storm to be this intense, wouldn't you agree?" The man spoke up from between his pipe. The bandaged man turned his head slightly to peer outside into the darkness which flashed to light for a moment.

"Something must be upsetting." He agreed, straightening himself as his old friend chuckled.

"You've been quiet for some time now? Tell me what's been on your mind this evening?" The man removed his pipe for a moment, looking it over as he spoke. He must have been satisfied in whatever troubled him for he returned it back to his awaiting lips in no time.

"I'm worried for her future." The bandaged man replied with ease. His friend laughed, turning his head to look at him.

"You always seem to be." He murmured, laughter still bubbling on his aged lips. Setting his pipe down he set about cleaning it. "Need not to worry my friend, she was stomped on but she will prosper once again." Polishing the well crafted wood he carefully set it back in it's box, shutting it carefully.

"And the boy?" He asked, noting the immediate change in his friend. The old man's eyes narrowed, his back straightening.

"Need not worry about him, he is well and safe." The man's voice held a new edge to it, sharper and more serious. Gone was the lingering laughter and smile, now replaced with stern eyes and a locked jaw. The bandaged man bristled at his words.

"I do worry about him for he is not safe where you have placed him. Something that is as important to her safety should be held in high regards."

"And what exactly are you implying this boy has?" Both men stared at each other in silence, though a thousand words were being communicated through their gaze.

"Don't take me as a fool Hiruzen, I know of Minato's legacy and what he contains." The old man, Hiruzen, narrowed his eyes even more.

"The boy is safe, no one will find him for now." Hiruzen stated, his hand rubbing at his balding head. The bandaged man shook his head slightly.

"For now, but they will come one day. And when they do they will tear her apart for him. We are all endangered because you allow him this fantasy of a life he can not possibly have." Lightning exploded outside of the room, showing the two men's faces for a moment before they vanished into a faint glow.

"He should be allowed the chance of a normal life, he didn't ask for this." The bandaged man tapped his cane on the floor, another clap of lightning flashing around them.

"That boy is the container for the the kyuubi no kitsune, he will never have a chance at a normal life. He can not be left to grow around civilians." Hiruzen hated to admit it, but he could see where his friend was coming from. It was the same thought he had that night when this all started. Sighing he turned to look outside.

"This is to protect him Danzo." The bandaged man, Danzo, gripped his cane harder. Leaning forward slightly as thunder rumbled between them.

"Let me teach him how to protect himself, because they will come one day Hiruzen and you would be signing his death sentence by allowing this to continue." Hiruzen looked out at the darkened city, deep in thought. He knew that the boy would never truly be safe. That one day he would come to terms with what dwelled deep inside him. He wished to prolong it for a long as possible, to give the boy time to see life. But he would also be leaving him unprepared for his journey ahead of him, one that would truly be marked with hatred and hardships.

Could he trust his oldest friend with the task of preparing him for it? He would do it himself, but now that he was the Hokage again he knew he was looking at an even busier schedule considering the wreckage they had just experienced a few months ago. He could always ask his student, but he was to close with Minato. He was still grieving the loss of who he considered to be his only family. No, Hiruzen hated that he came back to this conclusion, but his friend was right. The boy needed to be prepared, it was the life of a jinchuuriki after all.

"Give him six winters to be just a boy, than yes...train him to be Konoha's sharpest sword for her to wield." The man murmured, knowing that he would regret these very words one day in the near future.

Danzo sat back in his chair, closing his eye in content. The silence lapsed around them again, filling with the roaring rain hitting the roof above them. Another clap of thunder sounded, lighting the room up as a jet of blue lightning shot through the sky, reaching out to encase as much space as possible before being sucked back up into the heavens. Hiruzen sighed, reaching for the case that held his pipe as the storm raged on ahead.

* * *

 **So Im kinda rewriting this story, even though I just had four chapters of it up. I didn't really like how it sounded. Anyways, big reminder that this is my first Naruto story, so I am bound to mess up with some jutsu's and some** **styles** **, just a warning. So until the next time I decide to procrastinate on my work and write a chapter.**


	2. Chapter 1

_**I don't own Naruto**_

* * *

 _ **be·gin·ning**_

 _ **bəˈɡiniNG/**_

 _ **noun**_

 _ **point in time or space at which something starts**_

* * *

A young, brightly haired boy sat among a small huddle of other boys. Small cries of joy would break out every few minutes from their circle, followed by shoving of two.

"That's him," The lady smiled, directing her small, pale hand over to the boys. Danzo murmured something she couldn't hear, but continued to smile. The caretaker of the orphanage was young he noted, early twenties possible. She was dressed like all the other ones, a plain light blue dress that reached all the way to the floor and covering her arms as well. Her brown hair was pinned up tightly to her head, probably forcing the cheerful smile she wore. "We were beyond thrilled when we got the Hokage's message. He truly deserves this Danzo-sama," The man nodded, not paying any attention to her words as he watched the young boy.

His hair popped among the others in the group, the only bright yellow in the whole yard actually. A blinding smile lit up his azul blue eyes as he reached for the toy army guys. His eyes traveled to the whisker marks that adorned each of his cheeks, a token from the nine-tails he assumed.

"Naruto-kun!" The caretaker called, her cheeks rising as her lips smiled, waving the boy towards them. All five heads looked up at the call, but Danzo's stayed on his. "You have a visitor!" The young boys eyes glanced over to his before ducking his head again. Dropping his small figurines he pushed himself up, muttering under his breath to the other boys who watched him go. The lady smiled as he approached, bending down so they were level. Placing her hand on his shoulder she spoke softly, "Naruto-kun, this is Danzo-sama. He is the ninja we had talked about." The boy nodded slowly, his eyes lowered as he played with the edge of his dark shirt.

"Hello Naruto-kun." Danzo murmured, gazing down at the young child who quickly looked up at him and than back to his feet. The caretaker rubbed his shoulders as she stood back up.

"He's all yours Danzo-sama." She smiled, pushing the boy forward as she disappeared back into the orphanage. The two stood silently, the noise from the screaming kids playing washing between them. Danzo observed the boy as he would look up at him squinting than back towards his friends, kicking the ground softly with his worn sandals.

"Come." He murmured, turning and heading towards the abandoned swings under a tree. The rope was old and fraying as he gently lowered himself on to the wooden plank. Naruto followed him, pulling himself up by the ropes since he was too small to reach the plank just yet. His feet barely touched the ground unless he shifted more to his right hip, then his toes would just barley carras the dirt beneath them.

Multiple children ran by in a game, screaming at the thought of getting tagged. Girls clustered around each other as they watched an older girls draw out white squares on the ground. Groups of boys eagerly dug into an old sandbox, laughing at one another when sand was thrown at one.

Naruto pursed his lips slightly as he watched the other kids playing, unaware that Danzo was watching him.

"What do you know about ninjas?" He asked the boy, who turned to glance at him. Naruto briefly looked upwards as he gently kicked his legs backs and forth.

"Well," He whispered, looking back at Danzo, "they protect the village, but only super strong people can be ninjas." A smile broke out on the boys face, conveying his awe for them.

"Would you like to be a ninja?" Naruto's eyebrows narrowed in confusion, his hands tightening on the ropes as he glanced back to his friends.

"I couldn't be, i'm not strong like that," then much quieter he added, "i'm just a nobody." Danzo gripped his cane, thinking the boys words over. He believed he was nothing, that he was destined to be nothing. It was probably something the orphanage instructed into them without knowing it.

"I asked if you would like to be a ninja, not if you thought you could." Naruto glanced back over to him, hope radiating in his eyes.

"Yes.." Was his quite response. Danzo hummed in agreement, silence washing over them once again. Naruto shifted uncomfortably, squinting his eyes as he looked up at the sky every so often. That's when he broke the silence.

"Why does the Hokage want to meet me?" He couldn't contain his curiosity any longer. That was the only thought buzzing around in his head for the last few days since he was told about the message. When he explained his excitement to his friend Ryo he just dismissed it, saying that the Hokage just probably wanted to take stock on all the orphans. Naruto laughed along with him, but that night he dreamt about becoming the strongest ninja there ever was, surpassing all the previous Hokage.

"Tell me, Naruto-kun, who is the Hokage?" Immediately Naruto responded, leaning towards Danzo slightly.

"The Hokage is the strongest ninja in the village, he watches over everybody and makes sure we are all safe!" Danzo nodded slightly, expecting a response like that. Of course the boy wouldn't ever come close to truly understanding what being Hokage really entitled. The self sacrifice, the never ending work, and the work that was dealt with in the shadows. He was a prime example of the work that was dealt with in the shadows.

After the nine-tails attack on the village he was mixed into the orphanage, only a select few given the insight into his true heritage. The knowledge of the nine-tails being sealed into this very boy was only shared to three people, and he was one of those three along with the Hokage.

"The Hokage is one of the village's strongest shinobi, he didn't earn that title with ease. He took many blows and suffered many losses to retain that hat. He has seen a great deal of loss and has also caused much more. Wise he is, very wise. He wouldn't entrust the fate of his village to nobodys. The Hokage doesn't believe you to be just a nobody Naruto, and neither do I." The boys cheeks turned red at the mention of his comment earlier. Turning away he looked at the kids playing, all of them blissfully unaware to the two of them.

"Why me though?" He whispered quietly, the wind blowing his stray locks slightly.

"Because you, Naruto, have something special that this village needs." Naruto's eyes grew wide at his words. Special. No one had ever used that word to describe him. Dashing a quick look towards Danzo he watched the man stand. "You will be starting at the Academy the following Monday." And with that Danzo slowly exited the courtyard, disappearing from Naruto's sight.

 _You have something this village needs._

* * *

"You? A ninja?" Ryo asked as he sat on his bunk. Naruto nodded, pulling himself up onto the top. The bunk beds were of cheap stripped pine with their rough canvas mattresses which were all jammed end to end on both sides of the long, drafty room. Only leaving enough room for the caretakers to walk through during the night to make sure they were actually asleep.

"Yes, that's what Danzo-sama said. I'm starting at the academy on Monday." The boys excitement was evident to everyone as he spoke.

"I can't believe it Naruto, you a shinobi." Another boy, Keiko, called from below his bed. Naruto pulled himself over to look at the dark haired boy.

"Neither could I!" Keiko smacked his head slightly, causing him to pull himself back up. Ryo glanced between the two.

"Did he say why?" Naruto's mind instantly flashed back to the old man's words he said earlier that day.

You have something this village needs.

"No," He murmured pulling at the torn comforter, "Nothing really specific." Ryo narrowed his eyes at him, knowing he wasn't telling him everything. Ryo was one of Naruto's earliest friends here at the orphanage that he could remember. The boy was a year or two older than him, they never knew for sure when he was born. He was the complete opposite of Naruto, who was bright and sunkissed, while Ryo was pale and dark. The older kids would whisper about him, saying that he was an Uchiha bastard child that wasn't allowed in the compound. Ryo pretended that he was unaware of the whispers, but everyone knew they haunted him.

"Just accept it Ryo," One of the older boys, Yuri, muttered from their right. "this just happens, the Hokage just realizes that a class isn't full so he picks an orphan to fill it." Ryo glanced back at Naruto, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah i'm just a filler." Naruto muttered throwing his head back to glance up at the plain plaster ceiling. A squeak sounded, followed by Ryo pulling himself up to look at him.

"Don't take it personally that it's nothing more, we weren't destined to become shinobi like them." Naruto bit his lip slightly, nodding into his pillow.

"I know." Ryo nodded slightly before retreating back to his bunk at the call of a lady screaching for lights out.

Naruto scratched his nose, turning over to face the line of bunks. There had to be about twenty on his left and about another twenty on his right. Out of everyone here he was handpicked by the Hokage himself. He was special. He wasn't destined to be nothing or to become trash like the older kids did when they were released from the orphanage. He was gonna become something, and he was gonna do it through his own hard work. Believe it.

* * *

When Monday finally came Naruto found himself standing at the doors of the orphanage. Over the weekend he had been sent a pouch filled with various ninja tools. All the boys in his room had awed at the shiny metal as he had inspected each and every tool.

"Don't stab yourself with this" Ryo joked holding a shuriken up.

He subconsciously patted the pouch as if to assure himself this wasn't some dream he was having. One of the caretakers was beside him, bustling over him. He was given a new pair of clothes, ones that actually fit him this time. It was a standard black shirt with the swirl on the back along with dark blue pants. His new sandals fit him perfectly, lacing up his legs to secure. Ryo and Keiko had joked that they need to dress up their show dog in the best garments so the orphanage wasn't frowned upon.

"...and here is your lunch, specifically made by the chief this morning." She held up the bento box as if to prove he would be eating nicely today before placing it into his backpack.

"Naruto-kun." A voice spoke, startling the two. Danzo stood at the bottom of the orphanage's steps, dressed in his usual short dark-green kimono tied with a sash, his cane standing before him.

"Danzo-sama." The caretaker mumbled, her hand placed on her bosoms as her chest heaved.

"Hello." Naruto called, jumping down the steps with the excitement only a child could have. Danzo bowed slightly to the young lady before leading Naruto into the street. Naruto turned back to the building, catching sight of a group of kids huddled up in the window, Ryo standing in front. A smile spread across his face before he turned back and followed Danzo,

The journey was quiet, but interesting enough for Naruto. They were barely ever let out of the orphanage, so when he was he drank in everything. They passed by many stands filled with various things. A man with his window full of apples and oranges and a butcher with his bloody lumps of meat on display and naked chickens hanging up. Crowds of people would stop at the various stands, buying what they needed or what pleased them. A group of girls, probably a few years older than Naruto, stood staring at brightly colored kimonos as they all talked quickly between each other. Small children tugged at their mothers arms as they caught sight of toys and various candies on display.

Naruto glanced up, catching sight of the magnificent rock faces that stood before him. Proudly showcasing all the previous Hokage's that once looked over this Village, each representing the very best of their time. His eyes landed on the Thirds, a smile bubbling to his face at the thought that he had hand picked him specifically.

"What do you know about the Hokages?" Danzo asked as they were leaving behind the busy marketplace. Naruto tore his gaze away from the rock faces for a second to look at the man.

"Well the older boys mainly talk about Lord Third and Lord Fourth, I however believe they all are spectacular. Lord First founded this village, believing that he could find peace in the world, the god of shinobi is what they called him. Lord Second created the Academy and various of other systems that are installed in all the other shinobi villages," Naruto turned his gaze to the third face on the mountain as they kept walking, "Lord Third is also known as the God of shinobi, carrying his belief; the will of the fire. That everyone in this village is family, no matter what clan you come from. Then Lord Fourth...he sacrificed himself for the safety of the village by sealing the nine-tails into himself." Naruto, having forgotten that Danzo was next to him quickly flushed red. Danzo smiled slightly at the boys embarrassment.

"That is merely the gossip spoken around the town, but gossip isn't always true now." Naruto's eyebrows narrowed in confusion at his words but before he could try to understand them they stopped. "Here is the academy." Naruto looked up at the building before them in awe. It was a massive building, with fencing running along it. His eyes were drawn to the kanji that read fire, in the very center of the buildings. As they approached the doors Naruto noted a giant tree to the side, with one lone swing beneath it. The inside was plain, wood flooring and white walls with windows to look out at the village. Danzo led him through the maze of stairs before stopping in front of one door. Before opening it he glanced down at the excited boy.

"Remember now, this isn't an opportunity to be taken lightly. You are here for one thing and one thing only, to get stronger." Naruto nodded, unaware that his fingers were drumming against his legs from anxiety.

He tried not to focus on the potential of failure, already knowing that class has been in session for over a month. He knew he shouldn't be worrying about friends, that his studies were his main focus, but of course he feared rejection. He can't remember how him and Ryo met, just that they were always together, and now for once he was alone. What if everyone in his class thought he was just some nobody that no one even wanted? Cast aside to become trash. Visibly shaking his head he tried to rid these thoughts. Just focus on your studies, he thought to himself as Danzo pushed the door to the side and they entered.

"...and here he is," a man, whom Naruto presumed was the teacher, spoke gesturing to them. Naruto became aware of many eyes staring at him at that moment, analyzing him and making assumptions, "Danzo-sama" The man inclined his head, turning to face Naruto.

"Iruka, this is Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto felt the man's hand on his back pushing him forward slightly towards the teacher, Iruka. Naruto noted his brown hair that was up in a spiky ponytail and dark eyes that looked upon him, but what he was instantly drawn to was the jagged scar that ran across the bridge of his nose. Naruto wondered what story it held, but knew he would probably never find out. The man wore the standard Konoha shinobi outfit, drawing Naruto's eyes up to his forehead protector that he wore on his head. The orphanage was far from the clans, so they rarely saw any.

Iruka smiled introducing himself to him, "You can call me Iruka-sensei." Naruto nodded, still aware of the prickling sensation of the other kids watching this introduction. Iruke glanced over to the other students than back to Naruto. "Class, this is our newest student, Uzumaki Naruto." He finally let himself turn for the class to take him in fully.

"His hair is so bright." He heard one blond girl whisper to another with pink hair. He felt his cheeks heating up and tried to fight the embarrassment.

"Iruka-sensei why is he just now joining?" One boy with red face markings asked, a white dog above him yelping in agreement.

"Kiba, Naruto wasn't given the ordinary admission into the academy because he doesn't come from a normal family." Naruto could see a lot of curious glances at this.

"What do you mean Iruka-sensei?" The blonde haired girl asked. Iruka glanced over to Naruto, not wanting to expose the boy in any sense, but seeing as how he didnt say anything he went on.

"Well Ino Naruto doesn't have any family, he's spent his whole life in the orphanage." Naruto glanced down at his shoes, done with being on display for the day.

"That's so sad Iruka-sensei." Ino murmured glancing at the boy who clearly didn't want to be looked at. Iruka nodded, placing his hand on the boys shoulder.

"It is Ino, but just because of that we should not pity him. He will want to be treated like anyone else in this room." Naruto glanced up at his new sensei, shocked at how well he understood what he was feeling. "Take a seat Naruto, there's one next to Shikamaru." He indicated a spikey haired kid who had his head on the desk. The boy nodded, glancing at Danzo who also nodded before walking up the steps to sit next to him.

Iruka and Danzo exchanged a few words before Danzo walked out, leaving the room quiet. Naruto was still aware of people looking at him but he tried to not focus on the crawling sensation on his neck. Focus on your studies, he thought quietly.

"Alright class," Iruka called, turning to write something on the board, "today we will be expanding on chakra control." Naruto heard a collective sigh and groans from around him, but he found himself leaning forward, ready to learn.

* * *

At lunch Naruto found himself sitting under the tree with the swing, silently nibbling on his rice cakes. He was observing the many students in his class. Ino and her friend, Sakura, were loudly talking about Sasuke. Sasuke Uchiha was the top student in the class. He excelled at everything, which was suspected from the clan heads second child. All of the girls fangirled over him, but Naruto noticed that the boy kept to himself. Shikamaru and Choji were best friends, he learned that through their lesson as they introduced themselves. Their families were super close, their fathers being on the same genin team. Kiba was very loud, not really taking any interest in school at the moment, Naruto noted to stay away from him since he won't be helping him at all.

A prickling sensation washed over Naruto again, lowering his food he glanced around, spotting a girl with dark hair and Lavender eyes watching him. Her face went red as their eyes connected and she quickly hid herself. Naruto quickly concluded he hated being the new kid. He was like a bug under a microscope available to look at. Everywhere he went people were talking about him.

 _"See that brightly haired kid in the lower class?"_

 _"Hear he has no family?"_

 _"Probably just a sympathy case."_

Naruto couldn't stop his anger at their words, crushing his rice cake at the thought. He hated that Iruka had told them he was an orphan, but he guessed it probably would have come out sooner than later. He had never experienced this type of shame before back at the orphanage because everyone was an orphan. There wasn't any point in saying that your parents didn't want you, because everyone had thought that at one point.

The bell rang, signaling lunch was over and he quickly stood, sending rice to the ground. Quickly, he packed his box up and headed back inside, ready to start learning again.

* * *

The sun was slowly dipping into the the ground when they were finally released for the day. Naruto gathered his books into his bag, listening to the chatter of the kids around him. They were all talking about playing later today and what they were gonna do once they get back home to their families. With no rush Naruto calmly walked down the steps of the academy, enjoying the sweet October air.

A swirl of leave appeared before him, showing a figure standing. Naruto stepped back, his eyebrows raised as he glanced at the porcelain mask that resembled a wolf. He had never seen one of these people in person, but knew who they were immediately. This was an anbu member. The older kids at the orphanage always talked about how badass they were, the strongest of the shinobi, under the Hokage's direct orders to carry out the toughest missions.

"Uzumaki Naruto, the Hokage wishes to meet you." It spoke, reaching out to hold his shoulder before they were gone.

Naruto stumbled when they touched ground, feeling his lunch ready to come right back up. His eyes spun around the room, not being able to concentrate on one thing. If someone wasnt gripping his shoulder he was sure he would have sprawled out onto the floor by now. He heard a deep chuckle around him, not being able to pinpoint the source since he was still spinning.

"First time people shunshin is always entertaining." A voice murmured, followed by another low chuckle. After a couple of minutes when Naruto was able to register he wasn't moving anymore he noted he was in some office. The anbu removed his hold on him and stepped back into the shadows. "Come, sit." The voice said again. Naruto looked up at its source, stumbling slightly.

"Lord Third." He whispered taking the aged man in. The man smiled, removing his pipe, the smoke billowing out before him.

"Come and sit Naruto-kun." He indicated a chair in front of the desk with his pipe. Naruto did as he was told, sinking into the leather chair, never taking his eyes off of the man. "How was your first day at the academy?" The Hokage asked, returning his pipe back to his lips.

"Oh..it was amazing. We learned all about chakra and about controlling it and it was just so fascinating.." He continued babbling on about his lessons as the man chuckled again. "Thank you so much for this opportunity Hokage-sama." Naruto exclaimed, bowing his head slightly.

"No need for that Naruto-kun, and call me Sarutobi." The boy tasted the new name on his tongue.

"Sarutobi-sama.."It felt odd, like he wasn't respecting the man before him for everything he has done. The man nodded, blowing out more smoke.

"I'm glad to see you got my present." He stated, indicating the pouch on his leg. Naruto stared down at his leg than back up.

"You sent me this?" The old man nodded once more. "Hokage-sama I appreciate everything you have done for me, I don't know why you believe so much in me but I promise I wont dissapoint you. I'm going to become the strongest shinobi Konoha has ever seen." Sarutobi smiled, letting the boys honorifics pass as he watched his excitement.

One wouldn't have been able to tell this was the container of the nine-tails, such an energetic excited boy held the evilest chakra at bay. Sarutobi's smiled faded slightly as he watched the boy recount his day. He didn't know what lay inside of him and who had put it their, and if things went right he wouldn't know for a long time. His eyes darkened at the promise he gave to Danzo six years ago in this very office. He sold Minato's legacy over to the shadows to be used for power and gain. One could only hope that Naruto could somehow obtain his sense of goodness throughout it all.

* * *

Naruto stopped at the orphanages door, turning to look at the wolf masked anbu.

"Thank you." He murmured, before turning the knob and walking in. He was immediately rushed by the caretakers, removing his bag and pouch, multiple questions of his day and if he had eaten. He stayed silent as they quickly looked him over before handing him a sandwich and sending him off to bed. He quietly nibbed the sandwich, enjoying it as he entered his dormitory. Multiple heads turned when the door opened, a second passed as they all looked at him and than they were all upon him like bees on honey. They all were asking about his day, what he learned, if he could do any cool ninja tricks yet, and what the other kids were like.

"Hey shut it!" Yuri shouted, appearing at his side. "Let the boy eat his sandwich." Ryo appeared on his other side as they quickly steered him over to his bunk. Multiple kids tried to follow but Keiko stopped them, muttering about how the celebrity didn't want the attention at the moment.

"So," Yuri murmured, "How was it?" Keiko appeared between them, eyebrows raised in anticipation. Naruto swallowed, setting the remaining half of his sandwich down.

"It was good.." He murmured, eyeing the younger boys who eagerly wormed their way closer to them.

"That's it?" Ryo asked, crossing his arms. Naruto nodded, bringing his legs up to hug.

"Yeah we just focused on chakra, we didn't try anything and they didn't show us anything." Yuri chuckled, shaking his head as he turned to go to his bunk.

"Boring." He muttered. Keiko pushed his knees slightly.

"Hey i'm sure it will get interesting soon, than you'll have some cool ninja tricks to scare the younger ones with." His eyes lit up in fascination as he ducked under the bunk, Naruto nodded turning to look at Ryo.

"They were all staring at me." He muttered picking at his crust. Ryo leaned against the wall, looking at the other boys.

"It's expected, your something new that they haven't seen," Naruto nodded, "especially with that bright hair of yours." He joked rustling his head as he protested. Ryo threw himself on to his bed leaving Naruto to eat the rest of his food. Lights out was called and the room grew silent. Naruto laid down on his back, remembering what the hokage had said before he had left,

Naruto quickly pushed himself up, the anbu appearing once again at his side. He waved goodbye to the Hokage as he slowly walked out.

"Naruto-kun," Naruto turned at the man's voice, "I'm rooting for you." The old man smiled, lowering his pipe to wave goodbye to the young boy who couldn't forget those words as he walked home.

* * *

 _ **Hey procrastination always gets a chapter updated!**_

 _ **Anyway, your gonna find that my Naruto is gonna be very different from canon, a prime example being in that he isn't hated because no one really knows he is a jinchuriki, and I have reasoning for this.**_

 _ **1\. I read somewhere that Naruto was mainly outed because of Danzo letting it out, I dont know if this is actually true but for the sake of my story it is. So since no one knows, they just consider this kid as any normal kid, which I think Naruto would have grown up being reasonably loving and nice like any kid.**_

 _ **2\. Him growing up this way is all part of my master plan, so just deal with it**_

 _ **Thanks for reading!**_


	3. Chapter 2

_**I do not own Naruto**_

* * *

 **con·cen·trate**

 **ˈkänsənˌtrāt/**

 ** _verb_**

 _ **1\. focus one's attention or mental** **effort** **on a particular** **object** **or activity.**_

* * *

It was hot. Unbearably hot, like someone had doused his body in gasoline and lit a match underneath him. He stumbled around, the sound of sloshing rushing to his ears. His hand was cold, wet. Was he sweating? No, he was standing in something, but what? It was too dark to see anything, pitch black. He couldn't even see the rough outlines of shapes. The only thing he was completely aware of was the smell of decay surrounding him. He gagged, falling to the floor retching. His clothes were wet, whether it be from what he now laid in or his own sweat he couldn't tell. The smell was all around him, baking in the heat as it consumed him, threatening to strangle him. He struggled for air, someone was trying to suffocate him. He could feel their burning hands on his throat. He tried to pry them away, scratching at them and pulling with all his might. Desperation over took him for the need of air, a sort of primal urge as he tore at his own throat. His ribs heaved up and down but no benefit came. Dizziness. He slumps into whatever he lays in, sputtering as the heat pressed even further into him.

" _ **Pathetic**_."

 _ **XXX**_

Naruto jolts awake, frantically pulling himself up as he looks around. He greedily gulps down the air, savoring the feeling of his chest rising at each intake. His skin is cold, covered in a layer of sweat. He shakes away the feeling of the liquid he sat in, telling himself it was just his sweat. Shaking his head he pulls his knees up, placing his arms on them as he lowers his head, trying to calm himself. His body ached, tight from clenching his muscles in fear. Fear. It felt so real. The suffocating heat and that rotting flesh smell. He gages turning his head to the side. The sight of the bunk beds lined up next to each other helps ground him to reality, reassuring him that it was all just a nightmare. Just a dream.

"Naru….what's wrong?" Ryo roughly whispers, sleep lingering in his voice. Naruto shakes his head, glancing down at his friend. Ryo looks up through half open lids that were slowly closing as the time stretched on.

"Nothing." His voice is scratchy, rough in his throat. He clears it and repeats himself. Ryo nods slightly, lowering his head back down on to his pillow.

"Then go back to sleep." He murmurs as he passes back out in meer seconds. Naruto frowns, how could he possibly sleep with this raging ball of tension knitting together in his stomach. Glancing behind him to the window he sighed, the moon was still high in the sky, showing no signs of morning.

"Go back to sleep." He mutters to himself bitterly. That should be real easy.

* * *

"Now by just channeling a bit of chakra," Iruka removed his hand, showing the kids how the leaf stuck to his skin, "you should be able to keep the leaf stuck to your foreheads." He turned, showing all the kids what was expected before releasing the leaf and catching it. "Now go find yourself a leaf and try it out." He watched as the kids scrambled off to the trees, searching the ground with excitement.

"Such a drag." Shikamaru muttered as he handed a leaf over to Choji, twisting his around on the pads of his fingers.

"Come on Shikamaru, we are finally doing something with chakra." His friend replied in between shoveling chips into his mouth. Kiba knelt before them, searching the ground for his own leaf.

"Yeah it's only been about two months." Kiba drawled standing back up with a leaf in his hand. Akamaru yapped in agreement before the two turned away.

Naruto twisted his leaf by the stem, walking past some of the other boys, their conversations fluttering into his ears. This task seemed simple enough. Just by channeling a bit of chakra to where he placed the leaf he should be able to get it to stay. Even if he were to jump around and swing his head this way and that, the leaf should stay. Taking a deep breath he placed the leaf against the center of his forehead, looking up slightly. He tried to imagine his chakra grabbing the leaf, like tiny little hands securing it to him. Ever so slightly he released the leaf, watching it flutter back to the ground.

 _Alright that was expected_ , he murmured to himself, _you weren't gonna get it on your first try_.

Stooping over he retrieved the leaf and placed it against his forehead. Furrowing his eyebrows he tried again, with no luck. Puffing out his cheeks he sighed, slightly frustrated. He looked around, hoping that he wasn't the only one with no success. He watched Kiba throw his leaf to the ground, fuming out loud. Iruka quickly came to the boys side, telling him to calm down. Naruto glanced over to some of the girls, happy to see they were in the same boat.

"Ino.." Sakura whined staring at her own leaf. Said blonde had a very determined look on her face, which resulted in her face to scrunch up like she had just tasted something very sour.

"Shut it forehead i'm trying to concentrate." She growled back, yelling in frustration as the leaf fell to the ground once again.

Naruto glanced at the leaf at his feet. So it wasn't just him, they were all having trouble with this exercise. Maybe they just weren't ready to start exercising their chakra. A terrifying thought entered his head as it always seemed to do these past few months. Maybe he didn't have any chakra and that's why he was struggling so much with this. No that was stupid he thought, bending to grab the leaf. Why would the Hokage entrust him with the future of becoming a ninja if he didn't have any chakra.

He went to place the leaf against his head once more when a screech broke out in the yard.

"Sasuke-kun your amazing!" Naruto turned to see all the girls stumbling over to the Uchiha who had his leaf stuck to his head, perfectly.

"Good job Sasuke." Iruka praised the boy, who stood with a smug expression on his face. It was expected that the Uchiha would be the first to do it. Naruto licked his lips, determined to be the next one when Iruka's voice filled the yard. "Alright that's enough for today, we will revisit this later." Naruto watched as the other kids dropped their leafs, most with frustration others with glee to be done. Sasuke released his leaf, catching it as it fell. He locked eyes with Naruto, smiling slightly as he dropped the leaf before heading back inside.

 _ **XXX**_

Naruto quickly shoved his books in his bag, throwing it over his shoulder as he raced out of the classroom. Pushing his way past Sakura and Ino who screamed at his back to slow down. He twisted between people and threw himself down hallways to reach the entrance. Pushing through the doors he quickly scanned the grounds. He spotted the raven haired boy descending the steps and he quickened his pace.

"Sasuke!" He called, waving his hand in the air to the boy. Multiple kids looked at him as he passed, muttering something under their breaths. "Sasuke." He called again, jumping the last step. The boy turned narrowing his eyebrows as the blonde approached him.

"What'd you want?" He murmured, crossing his arms as Naruto tried to get his breathing under control.

"How'd you do it?" He exhaled, gripping the straps of his bag. He watched Sasuke visibly look stunned for a moment. Naruto disregarded it as he swallowed another breath of air.

"Do what?" He said low, turning to look at the gate. Naruto looked over him, catching sight of a taller, older raven haired boy patiently waiting. Probably his older brother.

"The leaf task, how'd you make it stick." Sasuke looked him over with confusion. Not daring to look away Naruto met his gaze head on. Sasuke glanced back at the gate once more, impatience creeping into him.

"You just have to concentrate and with that comes patience, that's all." He murmured, looking Naruto over once more before turning and heading towards his brother. Naruto watched the older boy bend slightly, poking Sasuke in the forehead. The younger Uchiha batted his hand away before they turned to go. Naruto looked down, kicking a stray pebble. He had concentrated when they did it earlier. It didn't make any sense.

 _Clearly not enough_ , he mused as he slowly began the walk back to the orphanage.

* * *

"In less than four months we will start practicing the Bunshin no jutsu, understanding this will help with your success in that." Iruka called as he walked among the kids. He watched Sakura yelp out in glee as her leaf stayed stuck to her forehead.

"I did it! I did it Ino!" The pink haired girl waved her hands around in excitement, turning to look at her friend. Ino puckered her lips.

"Figures someone with such a big forehead would get it to stick." She muttered, glaring at Sakura. Next was shino, then Hinata, and some other kids. Naruto tried to not let it get to him, he tried to take what Sasuke said yesterday and apply it, but it wasn't working. Groaning he threw the leaf to the ground. Angry that it took such a slow journey to land on the grass.

"This is a waste of time." He muttered, wiping his lip with his finger.

"No, it's not." Sasuke murmured, approaching the blonde. He leaned against the tree, staring down at the leaf by Naruto's feet. Naruto crossed his arms, looking away from him.

"I know, Iruka-sensei just said it would aid us in our future practices." He huffed, blowing a piece of fluff in the air away. Sasuke watched him quietly, remembering Itachi's words from the other night. The sound of the yard mixed between frustrated groans and cries of excitement as the practice continued.

"The real purpose of this isn't to just keep a leaf stuck to your head," Sasuke breathed, staring at the ground, "the real purpose is to keep your mind cleared from distractions, so you can concentrate." Naruto looked up at him, onyx black meeting cerulean blue.

"I've been trying that." He growled, Ino shrieking in the distant that she had done it. Sasuke leaned off the tree, stepping towards him.

"No, your fixated on everyone else and whether or not your gonna be the last one to get this done." He looked him over once more before turning and walking back towards the academy. Naruto watched him go, hating that he was right. He was letting his fear and insecurity get in the way and cloud his mind. Running his hand through his spikey locks he sighed. How was he gonna become an amazing ninja if he was constantly worried about how he was measuring up to his teammates and letting that get in the way of his own path.

That night he sat on the steps of the orphanage, a leaf held against is forehead.

 _Clear your mind_ , he instructed himself, _it's just you and this leaf_.

Removing his hand, ever so slightly, he kept perfectly still in hope. For a fraction of a second it stayed, until a slight breeze blew it off. He cursed watching it vanish in the wind. He reached into his pouch and retrieved another leaf, repeating his steps again.

"What are you doing?" Ryo asked, causing him to jump slightly and drop the leaf. "Why are you holding a leaf to your face?" The boy stood in front of him, arms crossed waiting for an answer. Naruto brushed the leaf off of his thigh, running his hand through his hair.

"It's just something they are having us do their." Their. That's what you called the academy around Ryo. He usually didn't care to hear about his studies or what stance he had learned today, unlike Keiko who wanted to watch him practice every taijutsu stance. Naruto watched the boy sit next to him, barley listening as he muttered about something he saw in the market.

When they were little Ryo was the one who told him about ninjas, who they were and what they did. He spoke about them in praise, in envy. He couldn't help it that it was him who had gotten chosen and not Ryo. He had hoped his best friend would be able to get over that fact, but he could feel their bond getting strained, weakening as the days went by. He was either out practicing or studying the many theories Iruka had taught them. Ryo eventually stopped asking if he wanted to join their games, now he simply just turned to look at him, seeing him propped up with a book, and that was all he needed for an answer.

"That Uchiha Sasuke is in your class right?" Ryo asked, interrupting his thoughts. Naruto dropped his hand from his mouth, turning to look at the boy. His hair was longer and he was starting to style it across his face, hiding his eyes behind the black strands.

"Yea-yeah he is." He mumbled, biting his thumb slightly. Ryo nodded, picking up a pebble that laid on the steps. Naruto watched as he turned it over in his hands, this way and that.

"I heard he's pretty good." Naruto nodded slightly, breaking the trance with the rock. The other kids could be heard faintly playing in the back.

"Yeah he is, but I mean it's expected from an Uchiha isn't it?" Ryo nodded slightly, dropping the rock and pushing himself up.

"Yeah that's what's expected from a family that hands you everything." Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but than he was gone. He glanced over to the rock that laid on the steps once again. He knew Ryo hated the Uchiha's, but man. He was getting harder to talk to these days. Naruto bit his nail, glancing up at the yard in thought.

* * *

Iruka had lectured to them all day on the history of chakra and Naruto was sure his head was minutes away from exploding. Descending the stairs he rubbed small circles into his temples, hoping that would ease the growing ache he felt. Rounding the gate he stopped at the sight of a certain man before him.

"Danzo-sama!" He exclaimed, shocked to see the man. He hadn't seen him since he had taken him to his first day of class, and that had been almost three months ago.

"Naruto-kun, walk with me." The man murmured, turning to leave. Naruto looked around for a moment.

"They are expecting me back at the orphanage soon." Danzo stopped, not turning as he spoke.

"I have already sent someone so they know you are in capable hands. Now come," Naruto looked around once more before running to catch up with him, "tell me about your studies." Naruto groaned, thinking of how his pouch was stocked up on leaves he had collected throughout the past days.

"It's not going anywhere. I'm one of the last kids who can keep their frickin leaf stuck to their own head." He hissed, crossing his arms in anger. Danzo stopped humming in thought. He reached his cane out to stop Naruto as he kept walking in anger.

"Give me your arm." He demanded, bringing the cane back to his side. Naruto narrowed in eyes in confusion, holding his arm up slightly to the man. Danzo grabbed it, pulling him towards him and than they were spinning. Naruto yelped in surprise as he felt his body turning in a thousand directions. In seconds it stopped, but he still felt the after effect of the shushin.

"I dont think i'm ever gonna get used to that." He murmured, kneeling to the ground to steady himself. Danzo shuffled down the dimly lit hall, calling for him. Sighing he stood up and followed, holding his stomach as he trudged behind the man.

"Where are we Danzo-sama?" He whispered, looking around at the concrete walls that surrounded them.

"We are underground. There are different sets of tunnels that run all throughout konoha, faster way to get around without all those villagers in our way." He spoke more to himself than to Naruto. They didn't walk very far before they reached a set of stairs that only went down. They descended for quite awhile, the light slowly getting smothered by the darkness the farther they went. Naruto noticed his breathing becoming more ragged and he was reminded of his dream a few nights ago. He quickened his pace, falling in line with Danzo. "So your having problems with your leaf activity?" The man questioned, turning to walk down a hallway with small lights lining the ceiling. Naruto nodded, stopping when they reached an open room. He could barely see, but he could tell they were not alone. It wasn't voices he was hearing, but movement. The slight shuffle of feet against concrete, the rustling of clothes. Danzo didn't seem to be on alert so Naruto relaxed.

As they crossed the room he noticed his eyes were adjusting to the dark. He noticed that there were multiple kids surrounding them, they all looked to be around his age. Some younger and some older. At the different entrances stood guard what seemed to be anbu members, their porcelain masks staring at them emotionless.

"Danzo-sama.." Naruto spoke, his voice coming out much quieter than intended.

"They are all here for a reason, do not be alarmed." The man spoke, his voice echoing in the large room. The climbed a few stairs and stopped in a much lighter open room. He sure it mimicked the one they were just in, just a few flights higher up. Danzo turned, facing him for the first time of their journey.

"Now, retrieve one of those leaves from your pouch and let me see you try to channel your chakra to it." Naruto stood frozen for a moment, shocked that he was actually underground doing this. His hand fumbled with his pouch, retrieving a few leaves that he let fall to the ground. The only noise that could be heard were the slight rustling of his clothes as he moves his arm up to his head. He swallowed, concentrating slightly as he attempted, once again to keep the leaf still. He sighed, feeling the leaf slip from his fingers, telling him he had failed once again.

"It's like this everytime..nothing happens." He muttered, kicking the leaves around. Danzo watched him, aware to the problem he was having. Of course he knew this would happen from one of his and Hiruzen's very first talks about him.

"Hmm...just what I thought." The man whispered, walking closer to him. He tapped his cane against the floor, the soft noise echoing around them. Naruto looked up.

"What? What is it?" He begged. Maybe his fear was true. Maybe he didn't have any chakra to mold and that's why nothing was happening and Danzo had just witnessed it.

"Your chakra," the man murmured looking him over, "you have large reserves." The man said it simply, as if that would connect all the missing puzzles in his head.

"I have what?" Naruto asked stepping forward. Danzo nodded, pulling a leaf up from the ground.

"You have a great abundance of chakra at your disposal. Having a larger than normal chakra level will cause it to be more difficult for you to mold and control it. This is why you are having trouble with such an easy, academy level task. It asks for the slightest bit of chakra, your simply pumping to much into it." Naruto's thoughts went to Sasuke and Sakura, the ones who were able to get the task done the fastest. Only because they had low chakra levels. A small smile crossed his face at the thought. The great Sasuke Uchiha had low chakra levels.

"How do I control it?" He mumbled, looking down at his hands as if his chakra would burst from it. Danzo turned his cane over, looking around the dimly lit room.

"It mainly starts at home, with the parents showing the kids simple activities as they grow, each getting harder and harder," he slowly walked around Naruto, noticing the boys head droop lower, "you however, don't have anyone. No one to teach you." Naruto's mind flashed to Iruka, maybe he could give him some private lessons. He was sure the man would understand where he was coming from if he explained.

"Then how will I ever learn." He murmured, shoving his hands in his pockets as Danzo stopped in front of him.

"I can show you." Naruto's eyes widened. He wasn't a fool to who Danzo was. On his first meeting with the Hokage he had let his curiosity get the best of him and asked him about him.

 _"Danzo...is very smart and cunning. He sees what he wants and he doesn't stop until he has it. He molds things into the perfect use for the village." Naruto watched the Hokage who was trapped in thought, his pipe held in front of his lips as he talked. "He was on my genin team you know," he seemed to remember where he was and turned to look at him, "one of my oldest friends. I trusted him with my back during countless battles."_

"What. You?" Naruto murmured in amazement. "You'd want to teach me?" Danzo didn't miss the underlying tone to his words. Why would he waste his time on an orphan, someone that had nothing. Danzo sighed, if this boy was ever gonna reach his full potential he was going to have to realize he wasn't just a nobody.

"As i've already said once before Uzumaki, you have something special that this village will need one day. I intend to help you realize this and strengthen you in order to be prepared."

"Prepared for what?" Naruto mouthed, watching Danzo drop the leaf he had been holding. It fluttered slowly to the ground, turning this way and that on it's descent. Danzo knew he had the boy captivated, the mention of what he could become always was a sore spot.

"The future of course, the future of Konoha." Naruto nodded slightly. If he was going to protect this village he was going to have to start taking everything seriously. He wasn't like his classmates who could go home and ask their parents how to do something or ask to see a certain stance. He had no one. No one was looking out for him, nobody cared if he succeeded or failed. He had to start caring. He looked up at Danzo, a new kind of determination burning in his eyes. The man had already proved he had useful information he could provide in his training.

"Yes, Danzo-sama." The old war hawk smiled, happy to see that his plans were finally starting to come together.

* * *

Naruto was barely aware of the buzzing life of the market around him. He didn't care for the shiny masks or sizzling meat on the grills, he was focused on what had just happened with Danzo. He was able to finally get the leaf to stick, it didn't take to long after he had explained why he was struggling so much. He had made it so much easier for him. Naruto carefully considered how this could affect him in the future, he felt like he had a secret that he had to keep now. He never had a secret before. A smile passed on his lips, he had secret training.

"Uzumaki Naruto." A voice called, pulling him from his thoughts. He blinked, looking up at the older boy before him. He was tall, raven hair falling in his face, his headband glistened in the sun. He recognized him as the Uchiha waiting for Sasuke the other day after school. His attention shifted to hands on his shoulder and then saw Sasuke's head peeking out from behind. The older boy laughed slightly, "Sasuke here hurt his ankle while we were out training." His eyes crinkled in a smile as Sasuke grumbled behind him.

"Ni-san i'm fine." Naruto watched as Sasuke struggled in his brothers grip, only causing him to chuckle even more.

"Naruto." The boy murmured, catching the older boys gaze.

"Well Naruto, I'm Uchiha Itachi, it's nice to meet one of Sasuke's classmates." Naruto nodded slightly, glancing at Sasuke who glared down at him. "Please take care of my younger brother."

"Ni-san!" Sasuke cried, his cheeks growing red. Naruto nodded again, saying his goodbyes as he quickly headed towards the orphanage. "Why did you say those things." Sasuke grumbled as they watched the blonde disappear.

"Sasuke, that boy will become powerful one day." Itachi was very quiet as he spoke, gripping his brothers legs. "I think it would be wise to befriend him." Sasuke narrowed his eyes, glancing back up to where the blonde had vanished.

* * *

Naruto quickly slid the door open, the sound of kids talking amplifying. He scanned the room, his eyes latching on a certain raven haired boy sitting alone. Climbing the steps he stood before him, a smile on his face. Sasuke looked up from his hands.

"What do you want." He muttered, his eyes squinting slightly as he looked him over. Naruto nodded, reaching down to grab a leaf from his pouch. Sasuke watched as he placed it against his forehead, removing his hands to showcase the leaf that stayed. Determination was on the boys face. Sasuke idly wondered how long he had spent practicing this.

"Hmm." He hummed, nodding slightly. Naruto's smile faltered for a second, his concentration slipping causing the leaf to fall. Sasuke remembered Itachi's words last night. He had questioned him but he didn't say anything further on the topic. Sighing he glanced down at the desk, "Good job.." He whispered deathly quiet, hoping no one had heard him. Naruto froze slightly, Sasuke looked up to him. They seemed to stare at each other for minutes, neither saying anything. Sasuke tore his gaze away grumbling, "Just sit down dobe." Naruto flushed, dropping down in the seat next to the Uchiha. Smiling he looked forward, greeting Iruka as he entered the room.

* * *

"I have gained the boys trust." His voice echoed off the walls of the dimly lit room. The flame flickers nearby on candles, the slight movement sending disoriented shapes against the walls. It was steady and bright enough to relieve that darkness of the room, but it was not enough to clearly make out anything. A rustling of clothes was heard as the man before him shifted slightly.

"What makes you say that." This voice was smooth, slick with a smile. Danzo looked up slightly, a smirk on his face. It wasn't the first time they had met like this.

"Because he chose to let me teach him. He saw that I have knowledge to offer him, and he's power hungry...like you were Orochimaru." The man before him smiled, his eyes opening to reveal his yellow slitted eyes.

* * *

 _ **Im just saying, I always update when I don't want to do my school work. Hopefully you like this, if you have an questions, concerns, or just want to tell me how much you hate something; just leave a review.**_

 _ **Also I know when Sasuke says dobe in the anime its usually in the context of "dead last" here it being used for "idiot" but like in a friendly, joking way.**_

 _ **-Justliving11**_


	4. Chapter 3

**I do not own Naruto**

* * *

 _ **pain**_

 _ **/pān/**_

 _ **noun**_

 _ **1\. physical suffering or discomfort caused by illness or injury.**_

* * *

"Again." Danzo muttered, walking slowly around the room. Naruto huffed, swinging his arm up to block the older womens punch. Gritting his teeth he pushed her off. She didn't waste time twisting away from him as he dove towards her. Her foot swung up to connect with his side-sending him tumbling across the floor. He gasped,feeling the air leave his lungs as his body folded into itself. He lay on the cool concrete floor, watching his fingers twitch slightly. His side burned with pain, along with his right cheekbone where she landed a hit on him earlier. He faintly heard Danzo muttering something to the women before she bowed slightly and turned to leave.

Sighing he rolled over onto his back. Five months he had been training with Danzo and yet he felt like he was still the same as he had been when they started. Those first few weeks were brutal he recalled. Returning to the orphanage covered in a mixture of sweat, grime, and blood. His body always ached at night but when he woke in the morning he felt perfectly fine. For all the hits and cuts he managed to take, not one ever left a trace. He thought it odd, but was thankful for not showing up to class a swollen, purple mess.

He had gone through more clothes in the past months than ever before in his lifetime, but the orphanage didn't mind. The Hokage paid for all his expenses he could possibly need, allowing him to have fresh clothes each morning for school. After Danzo helped him out with his chakra control he was able to grasp Iruka's lessons easier. Rising up to now be second behind Sasuke at finishing new lessons. Sasuke was another thing that had surprised him. After his sort of approval of him he seemed to tolerate his presence. If that counted for not shooing him away at lunch or refusing his company in class. They didn't talk much about their personal lives, heck they barely even talked at all, but going from nothing to this was an improvement.

A cane smacked him hard against the face, sending him rolling to the side-cradling his face.

"Up." Danzo murmured, turning to walk away. Naruto wiped away a thin trail of blood from his cheek, unaware that it was already knitting itself back together. Pushing himself up he watched the older man take a few more steps before turning to face him again. "One would think that after all the time you have been here you would have realized you never admit defeat like that." His words were laced with disgust, his eyes narrowed as he took in the scrawny boy. Naruto dropped his head a little, glancing down at his sandle's when a gust of wind sent his chin up forcefully. Danzo's hand resettled on his cane, daring the boy to look away again. "And you now have the audacity to look away while I'm speaking to you," He chuckled softly, "foolish child." Warmth rushed to Naruto's face.

"No thats-"

"Silence." Danzo raised his voice, cutting him off. "No student of mine will ever take a hit and stay down. We are teaching you to not blink in the face of death, but yet you falter in your hits still." He nodded slightly, watching as Danzo moved towards him, stopping at his side. "Remove it." He muttered staring straight behind him at the wall. Tears pricked his eyes as his hands moved towards his shirt, discarding it on the floor. As if on cue his senses heightened, he was aware of the cool air against his back and the faint dripping of water from a pipe nearby. He listened, not able to see as the man entered the room. It was always the same one, he was aware of his chakra signature by now. He knelt down, picking a brick on the opposite side of the wall to study as the man approached him. Danzo hummed next to him, hands resting on his cane thoughtfully. The man stopped a few feet away from him, his clothes rustling as he removed something. Naruto outlined the brick, tracing the cracks up and across the wall. It was a nasty shade of grey, speckled with dirt and moisture. Chakra channeled behind him and he stilled, awaiting the pain soon to come. He heard the crack and felt the wind rush past him before he felt the pain, but when he did it erupted across his back.

His mind screamed out as the burning pain licked up his back like scorching fire. He hunched forward slightly from the impact of the chakra infused whip, awaiting for it to strike again. His jaw was clenched painfully, not allowing himself to scream out. He had learned that caused more harm in the end. He was supposed to take his punishment in silence, to not show his suffering and pain.

The man slashed the whip down once again, pouring in more of his chakra, allowing it to cut thousands of cuts across the boys back. Already two hits in and he was a bloody mess, he paid no attention as he brought the whip back. Again he slashed it down upon the boy, blood flicking into his face in the process. Danzo still stood next to them, glancing at the wall in silence. Naruto was aware of his own blood dripping onto the concrete floor, his nails digging into his thighs at every contact of the whip. He couldn't tell you how long he sat there or how many hits his back took. One moment he was aware of his nails ripping holes in his pants and the next Danzo was telling him to leave.

Mechanically he got up as if this was all a routine. He reached down for his shirt, pulling it back over himself as his whole body screamed out in agony. Uncaring that the blood had already drenched the back he turned to leave. A cloaked figure stood at the door waiting for him like always. He had never actually walked into this place, he was always brought in my shushin. He gripped the figures arm, barely noticing the tugging all around him before he released his hold and climbed the steps to the orphanage.

Keiko turned to greet him as he entered the dormitory, a smile on his face as Yuri pushed him off the bunk. He paid no attention to their greetings, turning to head toward the showers. It was late, no one would be in there since lights out was in a few minutes, but he was an exception. There prized pig, allowed to do whatever he pleased these days.

He stepped into the shower and turned the dial, old and metallic, releasing thousands of lukewarm drops. His hair darkened slightly, sticking to his face as the water trickled down his back. He winced slightly as the water tried to clean out his deep cuts, unaware that his back was already mending itself. His mind faded into dullness as he watched the swirling mess of red below him. The sensation of the steamy water calming him slightly. He stood like that until the water became painfully cold, unaware that he was shivering. Slowly he turns the dial off, reaching for his towel. When he reaches his bunk everyone's already tucked in bed. Quietly he pulls himself up, sprawling out on the cheap canvas of a bed. Ryo watches him, not speaking as he catches a faint wetness to his cheeks.

* * *

"Hey ninja boy!" Naruto turns at Keiko's call, watching as him and Ryo settle down next to him. "Got any pressing matter to attend to today?" He mutters scanning the scrolls laid out on the grass. Naruto bats his hand away, rolling the paper back up.

"I have things to read over." He exclaimed, shoving the scrolls back into his bag.

"Well you need a study break." Ryo mutters, pulling out clumps of grass. Shaking his head Naruto latches his bag shut.

"Break isn't in Danzo-sama's vocabulary unless it entails someones bones." The two boys wince.

"Yeah, well come on," Keiko urges, "It's a nice day out-come to the lake with us." Ryo nods, pushing his hair out of his face.

"I don't know guys." Naruto mutters, looking out at the other kids playing. It was true that he had been pushing himself ever since he got into the academy to catch up, but he knew he had to prove to everyone that he wasn't just a nobody.

"You never hang out with us anymore." Keiko muttered, his green eyes narrowing.

"Look this ninja business, we get it. You have stuff you need to prove, but you can't let it consume you." Ryo pushed himself up to his feet. "You have your whole life to be a ninja, but just a few more years to be a kid." He couldn't argue with that. If he was to pass the graduation exam in the next few years he would be a ninja for the rest of his life, his childhood gone the minute he put that headband on. Biting his lip he looked his two friends over. What could one afternoon hurt.

"Alright." He sighed, pulling his bag up with him as he stood. Keiko punched the air in success as they headed inside.

XXX

Naruto pushed the leaves back as he followed close behind Ryo. The path was cleared from years of travel, as they were frequent visitors. Ducking under a low branch he recalled the first time they stumbled upon the small lake. He was about five years old, having snuck away from the orphanage trip with Ryo and his friend.

 _"Hurry!" Ryo called, his spiky black hair protruding in an odd display. He was two years older, leading him and Yuri off into the woods claiming he heard noises._

 _"They are going to notice we are gone." Yuri muttered slapping a branch out of his face. Naruto struggled to catch up with their slightly longer limbs, ducking under the same branch._

 _"No, Ms. Calo is so old she can barely hear let alone see anything these days. Besides who wants to sit in some empty field and play those childish games." Ryo murmured directing them through the thick foliage._

 _"I hear she used to be a ninja!" Naruto added. Yuri turned to glare at him._

 _"Why is he here again?" Ryo glanced back at the smiling blonde boy and back at Yuri._

 _"Because, now get over it." Naruto stuck his tongue out to the back of Yuri's head, aware that he wouldn't notice. Ryo stopped looking out at a small lake before them. "Well would you look at that." He whispered, stepping out of the forest. The surface resembled a mirror, not a single ripple to disturb the still water. As they approached it Ryo tugged off his shirt and sandals, throwing them behind him as he launched himself into the water. His head burst up, shaking off water as he laughed. "Come on Naru!" He yelled diving back under the water._

"Naru." Ryo called, bringing him out of his thoughts. They had reached the small clearing where the lake lay, still as unmoving as ever. He noticed a thick layer of built up algae around the sides, the weeds reaching up to his chest by now. Keiko shrugged off his clothes leaving him in only his boxers.

"Come on slow pokes!" He yelled, diving into the water. The two followed him, discarding their clothes and propelling themselves into the water. Holding his breath Naruto was submerged in the cool water moving his arms to pull himself back up to the surface. He quickly pushed his golden locks out of his eyes, shielding his face ad Ryo sent a wave of water towards him. They spent the next few hours doing stupid things such as seeing who could hold their breath the longest or do the best flip. Keiko kept asking if he was cool enough to walk on water.

The sun was slowly sinking as they lay on the soft grass drying. Naruto using his arm as a pillow to rest.

"So how are the other kids?" Keiko asked rolling onto his stomach. Cracking an eye open he glanced up at the sky.

"You mean at the academy?" He nodded, tilting his head slightly as he waited for an answer.

"Uh..well they are alright I suppose." He mumbled not really sure what to say. A lot of them were just so young that they didn't really care about much.

"He has that one Uchiha in his class." Ryo muttered from beside him. Keiko's eyebrows rose up in amazement.

"Really! I heard he's crazy talented." Naruto pursed his lips thinking of his semi-friend.

"Yeah he's the best in the class, but he doesn't feed on the attention. He has a pack of fangirls who are always whining for his attention, but he could care less about them." His thoughts went to Sakura and Ino who spent all their time trying to get sasuke-kun's attention.

"You friends with him?" Ryo glanced at Naruto, interested in his response. Shrugging he pulled himself up.

"I don't really think he has any friends, but I guess you could say he tolerates me."

"Can you do any cool jutsu's yet?" Furrowing his eyebrows Naruto glanced over at the lake.

"Nothing that impressive yet, but Danzo-sama been teaching me the clone technique. Kind of getting a jump start on it before Iruka teaches it to us in a few weeks."

"Can we see?" Keiko pushed himself up, eyes wide with excitement. Naruto pursed his lips slightly. He wasn't really supposed to even say anything about it on Danzo's orders, plus he still was having trouble getting it down.

"We should get back." Ryo murmured standing up to pull his shirt back on.

"Oh come on! Naruto was just about to show us something." Keiko groaned, slamming his feet into the grass. Ryo shrugged.

"He can show you later. Now come on." Sighing Keiko pulled himself up, grumbling as he shoved his shirt on. They made there way back into town, maneuvering around the busy market.

"Naruto!" A voice called from behind them. All three of the boys whipped around to come face to face with the dark haired Sasuke Uchiha.

"Sa-sauske?" Naruto questioned, completely baffled as to why he would be looking for him. Keiko's eyes went wide like he was meeting a celebrity. The Uchiha glanced over at his friends before returning back to the blonde. Reaching into his bag he pulled out a scroll and handed it to him.

"Iruka is about to start teaching us the next steps to chakra control to get us ready for the clone technique and everything after that. Itachi gave this to me the other day and it helped...I thought you might like to look it over." He averted the blondes gaze, turning to look at a nearby candy store. Naruto glanced down at the scroll, unrolling it a bit to see if it actually was what he said it to be.

"Geez thanks Sasuke." He murmured looking up to the boy. "But why?" Sasuke glanced back at Ryo and Keiko, clearly irritated that they had an audience.

"You know how the others are, Kiba and Shikamaru, they don't necessarily care about these things as much as we do." Naruto nodded, looking back down at the scroll. "Well I'll see you tomorrow." He mumbled, turning to leave. The three boys watched him leave.

"He's so cool!" Keiko exclaimed. Ryo snorted.

"Gonna go join his fanclub now?" Keiko shoved him away, turning to head back.

"He's a lot cooler than you!" He shouted back. Ryo shook his head glancing down at Naruto.

"I think your his friend now." Naruto looked up from the scroll his face slightly flushed.

"It's just a scroll." He exclaimed following his older friend back.

* * *

That night Naruto sat hunched over that scroll, trying to process it's breakdown of the basic chakra networks and manipulating it to your will. Every few minutes his eyes would scan over the Uchiha crest stamped at the top, lingering on the design. He couldn't wrap his head around a helpful Sasuke. All he had ever known about him was his determination to be the best, which resulted in his cold nature. Sitting back he rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his confusion.

"I would say you should get to bed, but knowing how you have privileges and all." Ryo muttered, pulling the chair out next to him. He rubbed his neck as he looked his friend over.

"What are you still doing up?" The boy shrugged, reaching for the scroll.

"I could ask you the same, but it looks like your trying to crack this." He huffed leaning back in the seat.

"Trying being the main word," he reached forward to tap at a section of the text, "you see here it's talking about the basic stuff- chakra coils and all that," his finger traced down near the bottom of the page, "but here they start to talk about how seeing the flow of chakra...which doesn't make sense. That's not possible." He dropped his hand in frustration. If he was able to see his chakra it would make learning of all Danzo's lessons a lot of easier. Ryo glanced the scroll over once again.

"You gotta remember who gave this to you," He set it on the table and tapped the Uchiha crest. "This didn't come from just any library. It came from an Uchiha and guessing from who gave it to you:the head of the clan's own library." He traced the crest with his fingers as he spoke.

"So what? Sasuke gave me a bummy scroll way above my intelligence level." Ryo sighed closing his eyes.

"Tell me again why they chose you." He murmured under his breath. "The Uchiha are known for the sharingan." Naruto narrowed his eyebrows. He had heard that word before.

"The Sharingan.." He spoke quietly. Ryo nodded, leaving to glance around the many books lining the shelves of the room. He returned minutes later flipping through a book. "What's tha-" He was cut off as Ryo set the book down in front of him. Naruto glanced over the page, the images of what seemed to be red circles staring back at him.

"The sharingan, one of the three great dojutsu's. It appears only in the Uchiha clan, more like they awaken in it through certain traumatic events. There's only one non-uchiha to wield it, copy ninja Kakashi. He got that nickname due to his vast selection of jutsu's that he was able to mimic through his opponents manipulation of chakra." Naruto stared wide eyes down at the page. Looking between the different versions being shown.

"That's what they mean by seeing the chakra?" Ryo leaned against the table, glancing down at the pages.

"Not only for mimicking jutsu's. It helps the user to sort of see what's about to happen, how their enemy will strike." Naruto silently wondered how he knew so much as he flipped through the pages.

"You said three? What are the other two."

"The Byakugan and the Rinnegan." Ryo stopped his hand on a page, pointing to the two words. Naruto glanced over the lavender eyes, recalling the dark haired girl in his class that had the same color. He turned to see the other page, not recognizing the odd pattern of the rinnegan.

"Not a single person has a pair of those bad boys or if they do they have done a good job of staying under the radar." Naruto traced tha pattern slowly. What did any of this have to do with his chakra lessons 101.

"Why would Sasuke give me this?" He wondered out loud. Ryo shrugged, folding his arms across his chest.

"Well we can rule out the possibility of you being an Uchiha bastard child," He pulled on a lock of his hair. "Not with a beacon like that color." Pushing him off he ran his own hand through his hair.

"Alright so do these special eyes have any other abilities." Ryo pursed his lips in thought.

"I think there's some gossip wandering around the Uchiha district about it controlling the nine-tails, but i'm pretty sure if that was correct it wouldn't have done so much damage back than." Naruto glanced back at the sharingan patterns. Crazy to think how something so simple could hold so much power.

"The nine-tails? That giant beast that Lord Fourth killed?" Ryo nodded, glancing over at the clock.

"We should get to bed, you have school in the morning." Pushing off of the table he headed back towards the dormitory. Naruto nodded, looking down at the book, his eyes transfixed on the black and red design.

* * *

Naruto dragged his hand against the cement wall as he trudged through knee high sewer water. Every nerve in his body was tingling with fear. Shivering slightly he stopped as the air thickened and waves of nauseating smells hit his nose. Rattling alarmed him, looking above to see rusty pipes running across the ceiling and behind them he caught the sight of something red and blue running next to each other.

Swallowing he turned back to the corridor he was exploring. Behind him was total darkness and in front of him was just barely visible. Reaching back out to touch the wall he slowly started his journey back down the hall. The closer he seemed to get to whatever was there the more he feared of it. What had started as contortions in his stomach became the feeling of being smothered by an invisible hand. His breathing becoming erratic, deep, then shallow. He fights it. Fights the feeling of his body wanting to shut down or to stop and turn around. But he can't. He just has to keep going, has to know.

He reaches the end of the hall, surprised to see it open into a huge room. His eyes stop on the massive bars from floor to ceiling directly across the room from him. Taking slow, shaky steps he closes the distance between him and whatever's in there. Naruto stops as if sensing the cage coming to life. The ground beneath him shudders as the water rolls out in waves towards him. Just minutes before it reached his knees but now the dirty water rested below his navel, sending shivers up his back. A low chuckle rose from the darkness, taking a monstrous edge to it which helps to intensify the volume.

Naruto stumbles back when two gigantic red eyes appear from the darkness. Stuttering the boy gets caught in the bloody red as the chuckle grows even louder.

" _ **Worthless**_." A deep voice murmurs from around him. " _ **I could tear you limb from limb and use your bones to pick your meat from my teeth.**_ " As if to show off, the monstrous voice lets out a smirk, showing off two rows of razor sharp canines.

Pain shoot up from Naruto's legs. Choking back sobs he looks down to his legs as he stumbles to the ground. The water surrounded him turns from murky brown to a dark crimson red and the stench of copper makes him gag.

 _Blood._

Raising his arms to inspect the crimson liquid he holds back cries of pain as he watches his skin slice open and spill his own blood into mix. Laughter fills the chamber, the dark eyes matching the color of what he lay in stare him down, mocking him. Multiple pairs of eyes spring up around him, their eyes spinning red with different designs inside. Invisible hands reach out for him, grasping their hands around his legs and arms and pull at him with frantic ease. He tries to fight back, screaming with effort as he thrashes around in the blood. It fills his mouth and he spits out copper with gurgling screams echoing off the walls.

" _ **Worthless**_."

Naruto wakes with a jump. He can feel the sweat drenching his skin, the throbbing of his own eyes, and the thumping of his heart against his chest. His fingers are curled into a fist, nails digging into his palm. He can't shake the feeling of hands all over him and the overall sense of the fear that engulfed his conscious and knocked all of his other thoughts aside.

He sits trying to regain his breathing before he looks around. The dormitory is dark, his covers kicked to the end of his bed. Blinking he tries to rid the sight of the red eyes surrounding him, seeing through him. Running his hands through his tangled hair he held back a cry. This one was more intense than the last. Slowly he lowers himself back on to his pillow, closing his eyes but reopening them seconds later. The sharingan had stared back at him. The eyes more alive and mocking than in the dream. The words of that _thing_ echoed in his head again, messing with him.

 _ **Worthless**_

* * *

 _ **Well I don't really know what I just wrote...because I had a semi outline of how this chapter was supposed to go but that didn't really happen. Maybe next time. Anyways sorry for any typos or stuff I just messed up. I wasn't gonna post this because I feel like I should look it over more...but after writing it I'm just tired and don't want to.**_

 _ **If you like it, love it, hate it, want to stone me to death for what I've done-just leave a review.**_

 _ **Anyways I wanna say I should be updating more frequently because my semester is finished. But the problem of me only knowing what I want to do for a handful of chapters could postpone stuff. I don't know, we shall see.**_

 _ **-Justliving11**_


	5. Chapter 4

_**I do not own Naruto**_

* * *

 _ **e·rad·i·cate**_

 _ **əˈradəˌkāt/**_

 _ **verb**_

 _ **1\. destroy completely; put an end to.**_

* * *

Naruto placed his hands on the smooth wood planks, his feet dangling inches above the clear lake. It was a nice summer afternoon, the wind whispering across his face like a gentle caress. Occasionally disrupting the stillness of the lake, blurring the perfect mirror for seconds before it settled again. Sasuke sat next to him, his fingers still coated with a fine layer of ash. They were far away from the town to not be disturbed by the voices of others. Their second year at the academy was just weeks away, which meant they had to become better. Naruto had reined in control of his chakra with Danzo, being able to perform a simple bunshin a few weeks after Sasuke had given him the scroll. They were the only two able to grasp the technique in the first few minutes of Iruka's lesson. This lead them to spar while the rest of class attempted to create a simple clone. They got closer through their fights, translating into them meeting frequently after school to train with each other.

Naruto learned that although Sasuke had his family he didn't exactly get along with all of them. He admired his older brother, Itachi, who was frequently absent from his life. He had met his brother many times through their little training sessions. He would usually pop in to say goodbye to Sasuke or announce he was needed back at home. He never spoke about his father and Naruto got the hint not to push.

"You get the hang of it yet?" Naruto asked quietly. Looking away from the water to peer over at his friend. Sasuke looked up from his hands, his eyes emotionless.

"I'm close...I can feel it." He absentmindedly was running small circles across the back of his hand where he was burned. "Itachi was able to master it so fast, yet it's taken me this long to get to this point." He growled in frustration, pulling himself up. Naruto watched as he flashed through a set of hand seals before yelling out, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" A small jet of fire streamed out of the boys mouth, fueling a small flaming ball. It grew slightly before it was extinguished altogether. Sasuke heaved, bending down to catch his breath.

"It got a bit bigger that time." Naruto suggested, earning himself a glare. Wiping his brow he stood back up, repeating the hand seals.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Naruto watched again as the ball grew slightly, holding this time before vanishing. Small wisps of steam floated up from the lake, coating his legs with small beads of water. He understood why the Uchiha was pushing himself, he was no newbie to the concept either. He frequently blacked out at training with Danzo, waking up an hour or so later all alone. He had spent his time with Danzo mastering a lot of the basics. He wasn't allowed to pick one concept and stick with it-he had to know all kinds and become adequate at all of them before they all went to the next level. His favorite by far was learning the many styles associated with the different swords. He favored having dual Tanto's. He liked the idea of being able to strike at multiple angles, not being restricted to favoring one side more than the other.

He was brought out of his thoughts by an intense searing heat. He pulled himself back, shielding his face from the orange glow. Peering from behind his fingers he gasped at the giant fireball hovering above the lake.

"Sau-Sasuke!" He shouted above the inferno. The boy lowered his hand from his mouth, cutting of the fire. They both watched as the giant ball slowly vanished. The water below it crashing around wildly. "You did it!" He shouted in disbelief. A small smile was on the boys lips, hidden behind a layer of soot.

"Told you I was close dobe," He joked wiping his mouth on his sleeve, "I have to go." Naruto nodded as he watched the boy jog off the dock back towards his clan. Smiling slightly he turned to look back at the water. Things were changing, he could feel it.

* * *

Sliding the door open he was greeted with the noise of his classmates chatter. They had only been back in session for a few weeks, their second year already proving to be more difficult than the first. Iruka spent a lot of their days teaching them shinobi and clan histories. They were also going to be focusing more on shuriken and kunai throwing in the next couple of days.

Naruto looked up to where he usually sat, alarmed to see a certain raven haired boy not already there. Odd, he thought, Sasuke has never been late before. Climbing the steps he slid into his seat, peering out the window to see if he would catch the Uchiha sprinting into the courtyard.

Iruka entered the room, greeting the kids who did the same. Naruto tore his eyes from the window, turning to look at their teacher. He noticed he wasn't as cheerful as he usually was in the mornings. Usually it took around after lunch for him to get angry at their misbehaving, but he already looked haggard.

"Quiet," His voice was low, laced with something he couldn't place. Defeat? Sorrow? Grief? The class must have noticed it also for they fell silent. Iruka placed his hands on the podium, steadying himself. Naruto watched curiously, occasionally peering to look out the window.

"Last night an attack took place in the village," The class erupted in gasps. Everyone turning to their neighbor with questions. Iruka raised his hands to quiet them once again before he continued, "The Uchiha clan was the focus, killing them all-" The class fell deathly silent at the news. Naruto noticed many heads turning to look at his table, at the empty seat next to him. The seat that was always filled by an Uchiha.

Naruto can't help himself as he also turns to look, his movements mechanical and stiff-unlike himself. His hands shake uncontrollably and he tugs them under the table to hide them. This couldn't be possible, he thinks quickly. He was just with Sasuke last night. They were training-practicing shuriken throwing. They ran a bit late, to caught up in the perfect stance. Naruto had wished him goodbye, watching as he quickly threw his bag over his shoulders and sprinted off towards his compound. Naruto closed his eyes, willing away the images of blood stained floors and limp bodies which flooded his mind. He was so caught up in his own thoughts he barely managed to hear Iruka's next words.

"-but there was one survivor. Uchiha Sasuke was found in his house and is currently seeking treatment at the hospital. The Hokage didn't wish for you to hear this, but seeing as Sasuke is your classmate he deemed it necessary." The whole class seemed to let out a sigh of relief. Naruto opened his palms, unaware that he had broken the skin with his nails. He was alive. His friend was alive. Lowering his head he allowed himself to breathe.

"Poor Sasuke-kun." Sakura murmured. Ino nodded, glancing to where the boy usually sat.

"He's all alone now. That must be horrible." Ino replied, looking at their blonde classmate. His head was lowered on the table hiding his face from her view.

"Do you think we should bring him some flowers after class?" Sakura suggested. Shikamaru looked down at the two girls with half open eyes.

"If he was the killers victim I doubt the Hokage would let just anybody go see him. He's gonna be under the highest security levels right now." The Nara yawned, propping his head up with his hand. The two girls whipped their head around at his words.

"The Hokage would let us see him, we're his friends!" Sakura yelled. Ino nodded along to her words. Choji lowered his chip, feeling sorry for the Uchiha boy.

"Shikamaru is correct Sakura," Iruka called out, "The Hokage has to make sure the threat isn't around anymore. When the threat is unknown anyone can be a suspect, even a classmate." Sakura slumped forward in disappointment.

"So your saying they haven't catched the killer?" Iruka looked up to Naruto. The boy's face was grim, his eyes slightly red. Iruka nodded slightly, glancing around at the rest of the class.

"Your correct Naruto. The killer was able to get out."

"How is that possible? Did we not have ninjas out on patrol?" Kiba questioned, his eyebrows knit in confusion.

"Didn't you hear what he said earlier. If someone was able to kill a whole clan, they are more than capable of getting out undetected." Shikamaru replied, sitting up straight. Iruka watched the Nara, his laziness having vanished from minutes ago.

"Alright but how can someone get in and get out without anyone catching a whiff of the person?" Kiba sneered, turning to glare at the Nara. Iruka opened his mouth to stop the growing tension when someone else beat him.

"It's possible that he was already in the village before he decided to attack." Everyone's heads turned to look at their blonde classmate. Naruto met Iruka's gaze, watching as the teacher nodded ever so slightly before breaking the connection.

"We had a killer in the village!" Ino yelped, her eyes wide as she tugged on her platinum locks.

"This is a ninja village. We are currently being taught how to kill others. I would find it quite odd if this knowledge was not put to use at some point would you not?" Shino added, his voice muffled from behind his collar. Naruto glanced over at the girls who all seemed to be panicking slightly. He knew death was in their job description, but it was different from knowing it and actually experiencing it for the first time. He wasn't even the one killing and he still felt sick. Maybe it was more the knowledge that someone was capable of slaughtering a whole clan but one. He tuned out the rest of the class as he thought about Sasuke. How was he the only survivor? Did he somehow manage to fight off his attacker. No. He knew his friend was strong, but that person was able to murder a whole clan in one night, it's not possible that an academy student could have held him off. Iruka tried to get the class back on track but it was impossible. All everyone wanted to talk about was the Uchiha massacre-the talk of the town.

* * *

Naruto growled as he slashed his tanto down at the women. She leaned back, allowing his arm to grace the now empty air. She reared back up, aiming a swift kick to his knee. He buckled to the floor, her knee coming up to connect with his face painfully. Blood instantly spurted out from his nose, but he paid no attention as he rolled away from her. She turned, watching as he pulled himself up. He resheathed his blades, entering into a taijutsu fight instead. He aimed for her face which she batted away with ease. Gripping his wrist she yanked him down, ready to hit his face again when he brought his other hand up to block. Roughly he pushed her away, gaining his hand back in the process. She swiftly turned, rearing her leg up to hit. He grabbed it, grunting with the effort as he pulled her towards him. Instead of losing balance like he had hoped, she wrapped her leg around his arm. Using him to cushion her fall as they crashed onto the floor. Before he could react she had him pinned with her body, a kunai pressed against his neck with ease.

"That's enough." Danzo called from across the room. The women removed the kuni, pushing herself off of him. Naruto watched, focusing on her long hair which was braided into a ponytail, swaying below her waist. Her face was always covered with a porcelain mask, the markings resembling a bird. He pulled himself up, wiping the blood from his nose. She bowed slightly to Danzo before vanishing in a swirl of leaves. "You have become more familiar with those swords." Danzo murmured glancing at the handles behind his head.

"Yeah yeah, my movements aren't as fluid as they should be though," He replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess i'm still trying to work the different stances into combat situations." Danzo nodded, gripping his cane as he rose from his seat. Naruto puckered his lips slightly as his mind burned with thousands of questions. He wanted to ask him about the Uchiha massacre. He knew Iruka wasn't able to tell them everything, the Hokage wouldn't want children knowing the details. Maybe, he hoped, Danzo would be more willing to share.

"This is poorly copied, my scouts didn't have the proper time to make it perfect," Naruto caught the small scroll Danzo threw to him. "It came from a heavily guarded scroll, but I think this technique is something right up your alley." Naruto opened the scroll gingerly, noting the hasty sprawn out letters.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," He read outloud. "What's it do?" He looked up at the old man.

"Essentially it's a shadow clone," Naruto nodded, remembering the training they did for that jutsu two months ago. "However instead of creating a few clones, this will create hundreds if done properly." Naruto gasped, his eyes growing wide. A hundred clones. That could become his own personal army at any notice. "The drawback being it requires a substantial amount of chakra, which I don't see being problematic for you." Naruto smiled softly, unrolling the scroll even more as he read the steps for it.

"This is awesome. Thank you Danzo-sama!" He murmured rolling the scroll back up. Danzo nodded watching him. Stashing the scroll in his pouch he turned back to the man, his mind filling with questions once again. "Can I-is it okay if I ask you something?" Danzo narrowed his one eye making Naruto feel like he would reject and send him away.

"What's troubling you this evening?" He asked, turning to sit back down. Naruto was stunned for a moment. Sure he wasn't asking for much, but he still felt like he was about to cross a line he had no clearance knowing.

"Well...it's about the massacre. The Uchiha massacre." Danzo settled back down, watching as the boy fidgeted slightly.

"I'm surprised it has taken you this long to speak about it." Naruto frowned, kicking a pubble away from his feet.

"Well I just...I was wondering if you could tell me more about it. You see Iruka told us the basics, which was that it happened, but I can see why you wouldn't because I am just a child." Danzo smiled slightly at the boys rambling. He was aware of what their teacher had already told them, he had helped Hiruzen with what he should say exactly. He was also aware of how he was close with the surviving child. Curiosity of who was after his friend might be fueling his actions right now. The boy was still rambling, freezing when Danzo raised a hand for him to stop.

"It was believed by many that the Uchiha themselves orchestrated the nine-tails attack seven years ago." Naruto folded his arms as he spoke.

"Why? Why would they hurt their own village? Their own family?" His voice held the tone of a child's innocence.

"They did not see the village in that light, they believed they were being alienated. They wanted their power and voice back." Naruto was silent as he tried to wrap his head around the new information. He could see why the village wouldn't have been happy with the clan. They unleashed a beast that destroyed the town and took their leader with it. That could become a target for many to want to kill them. Naruto scratched his chin in thought.

"So then after the village was destroyed anyone could have wanted them dead." Danzo watched as the boy tried to piece the puzzle together, unaware that he was missing several pieces to the intricate design.

"It was Uchiha Itachi that murdered the clan." Danzo murmured, watching as the boys features froze.

"Thats-thats not possible." Naruto wondered out loud. His mind raced with the many times he had interacted with Sasuke's older brother. He vividly remembered the first time they had met. It was last year- he had called him out on the street, introducing himself. Did he know then what he would do. Had he already had it planned out. How he would go about the murdering of hundreds of innocent people.

"You were friends?" Danzo asked, curious to the boys shock. Naruto shook his head.

"No, he is Sasuke's older brother. We met multiple times...but he never seemed like.." Naruto was unsure what he was trying to say.

"Like a killer?" Danzo suggested. Naruto met his eyes, nodding. "I won't be the first to tell you this, but looks are deceiving. If you are to survive in this world you have to keep a part of yourself hidden from the world's view. Itachi hid his hatred for his clan. He was incredibly skilled, the best of his generation many have said." Naruto slid to his knees, wondering how Sasuke was doing. He couldn't even begin to imagine losing everyone and then having the person who took them be your own brother. The brother he looked up to so much. Danzo cleared his throat, bringing him back to reality. "Look over the scroll tonight and we will start with it tomorrow."

XXX

Naruto climbed the steps to the orphanage, aware of the growing mob of kids behind the door. Sighing he reached for the knob when it was swung open. Keiko was the first person he laid eyes on as everyone else pushed forward, shouting out questions to him.

"Is it true!"

"Is he totally mental now?"

"How's Sasuke!"

Naruto froze slightly, not used to so many questions. Someone grabbed his wrist, pulling him quickly to the side. He glanced at them as they ran around the back, noting Ryo's long spiky hair.

"This way!" Keiko shouted, waving his arms frantically to the back of the courtyard. Ryo pulled him forward, releasing his grip so he could run himself.

"What's with everyone?" He asked as they reached the set of old swings. Ryo shook out his bangs turning to look at the old building.

"They heard the news about the massacre this morning. They think you would know more about it." Naruto flopped down on a swing, leaning against the tattered old rope.

"I know nothing." He murmured, his mind flashing back to Danzo's words. Keiko smacked the tree in frustration.

"Great. It's already enough that we are the last to hear anything, but even so we know nothing about the situation." Naruto listened to his muttered words as he glanced back at the orphanage. Many of the kids were getting shooed back inside by the caretakers.

"And you think a bunch of low grade academy students are going to hear the juicy gossip?" He looked back to Keiko who sneered at him before plopping on the swing next to him.

"I'm just saying...it's scary and all." He murmured under his breath.

"How a powerful clan could be eradicated in one night." Ryo added bending down to sit in the grass.

"Well except for Sasuke." Naruto murmured. He felt sorry for his friend for many reasons. The most obvious being the death of his family, but the other being all this unwanted attention he was receiving.

"How's he doing?" Keiko asked swinging towards him. Naruto shrugged kicking at the ground.

"Wouldn't know. He's been kept at the hospital all day under guard."

"He's like us now," Keiko mumbled, "you know with not having a family anymore." Naruto looked up with wide eyes at his comment, not able to respond for his shock. Ryo laughed, his lips curling up in disgust.

"He only knows a fraction of what we have felt. He had the time to know them-we? We never had the chance because we were not wanted or cared for." Ryo muttered, squinting as he looked behind them. Naruto turned, shocked at his words. A bell sounded from the building, the boys turning to watch. "That's dinner." Naruto watched the two of them stand, turning to glance at him.

"You guys go on. I don't really want to play twenty questions with everyone right now." He watched them go, still surprised at Ryo's outburst. It was true slightly, what Keiko had said. Sasuke was now an orphan, but he did know his family unlike most of them here. He dug his hand in his pouch and retrieved the small scroll. Untying it he pulled it out and begin to read it, trying to forget about the Uchiha's for a moment.

* * *

Pushing the door open he was struck by how quiet the room was. His eyes turned to look up at his seat, expecting it to be empty like it had been for the past two days. He stopped when he noticed a certain raven haired kid sitting in one of the chairs, his head turned to the side. Everyone sat, whispering in hushed tones as they quickly spared glances back at him. He had to talk with him. He had burning questions that needed answers, but he couldn't. Shaking his head he pulled on his bags straps, righting himself before he climbed the steps. Everyone watched as he did so, drilling holes through the back of his head. He stopped, swallowing a mouthful of saliva as he pulled his bag off and let it fall to the ground with a thud. The noise must have awoken Sasuke from his trance for he turned, ever so slowly, to look at him. Naruto held in his shock as their eyes met. Crystalline blue staring into dark onyx eyes.

There was no anger, no sadness, grief or resentment. His face was emotionless, the only sign of anything being his clenched jaw. Naruto slowly sat in his seat, his eyes never leaving his face. He could tell he hadn't slept, his skin was pale, paler than normal. Making the veins under his skin more prominent. Dark shadows hung under his eyes. Naruto nodded slightly as if greeting him. Heck he didn't know what to say. What could you possibly say to someone that just had their whole family murdered by their own brother. He noticed how hot it was in the room. He was sweating, his palms slick. Without realizing it his mouth opened and he was speaking.

"It's a good thing we ran late with training." He sat horrified at his words. He didn't just say that. He could feel everyone staring at him, probably holding in their own shock. Sasuke looked him over, his face giving away nothing at his comment. Faintly he heard the door slide open and Iruka's greeting.

"Hmph." Sasuke hummed, turning to watch Iruka as he wrote out on the board. Naruto sat, still staring at him. Hmph. What did that mean. Did he just ruin their year and half long friendship with one stupid sentence. A sentence he didn't even think over, it just fell out. God he was so stupid. You don't joke about something like this. Mentally he was cursing as Iruka started to teach on the first great shinobi war. He didn't try to say anything else the rest of the day. Scared that he could somehow make it even worse. When the final bell rang he watched Sasuke get up and leave without saying a word. Gathering his books he stuffed them in his bag and chased after him. Running down the steps he watched as he exited the grounds and Naruto was struck with dejavu. Itachi flashed to life, waiting for Sasuke at the gates. He remembered him reaching down and ruffling his hair, Sasuke's irritation obvious from where he stood watching. However that wasn't the reality anymore. His memories faded away and he watched Sasuke's shrinking figure disappear in the distance. Kids of all ages flooded out around him, their chatter filling the air. He mechanically stepped forward, his motions not his own as he headed back to the orphanage.

* * *

His arms ached, no throbbed. Every time his heart beat his arms seemed to pulse in harmony. His head flopped around as he tried to get his bearings. Gone was the open room and cage he was used to. Instead he sat on an empty street. Gingerly he pulled himself up, trying to ignore the growing pain in his limbs. It's night, the moon hanging above him and providing the only source of light. Rounding the corner he notices many merchant stands which are still open. Odd, he thinks as he stops to inspect them. Usually they are all closed up at this time. He traces the wooden plank that reads fresh fruit before continuing on down the road. He doesn't recognize these streets, but they follow a similar structure to the rest of the ones in Konoha. A cat screeches, causing him to pause. He reaches down for his weapons pouch, his hand grasping the fabric of his pants. He always carries his weapons with him. Noises spring up behind him. He swivels, raising his hands ready for an attack. The hairs on his arms stick up, his body growing rigid. The dread creeps over him like an icy chill, numbing his brain. In this frozen state his mind offers him only one thought. Death. Slowly, ever so slowly he steps back. Swallowing he swivels, ready to take off when he runs into someone. He teeters, trying to regain his balance as his stomach clenches painfully. Looking down at him is no other than Uchiha Itachi. His bangs blow across his face, the moon doing little to reveal his features. Naruto sucks in a breath as he watches the boys sharingan spin to life. The blood red entrancing him. His breaths become harder to get. He raised his hands to his throat as he struggles to breath. Clawing at his skin in desperation.

No longer does he stand on an empty street. Bodies litter the ground, to many for the small road. They stack on top of each other like fallen dominos. Their eyes wide in shock, mouths pleading for their lives. Itachi steps forward forcing him back. He trips over an arm, sending him crashing to land on the mutilated corpses. His sharingan begins to spin faster, the black bleeding into the red. The corpse's reach out for Naruto, grabbing at him and pulling him farther into the ground.

"No!" He shouts, hands reaching for his open mouth and pulling his face against their cold flesh. He screams. Pleading for the help which won't come. Itachi stands over him, a bloody smirk dawning his face as he is crushed by the bodies. In the distance he hears crows cawing. He struggles to get free, even though it evident he's trapped. He's being suffocated, drowning in the sea of bodies. His hands reach into the air desperate, but he is only pulled down farther into the bloody mess.

* * *

 _ **After awhile nightmares seem to just be the same exact thing. Anyway hope you liked this. Just wanted to say thank you to all the people who have followed and favorited this little old thing, really appreciate it.**_

 _ **As always if you love it, hate it, want to suggest something-just shoot me a review. I love reviews, I get all giddy like a school girl when I read them.**_

 ** _Alright I have talked to much. Sorry for any typos, Ill probably catch them a week later when I reread this thing._**

 ** _-Justliving11_**


	6. Chapter 5

_**I do not own Naruto**_

* * *

 _ **noth·ing**_

 _ **ˈnəTHiNG/**_ _ **adjective**_

 _ **informal**_

 _ **no prospect of progress; of no value.**_

* * *

"Now to start you will be tossing the blade straight into the target," Iruka held up the shuriken for the class to see, stepping up to the target, "we don't have any concern for the distance away or the power you are putting into the throw. I don't want to see these flying through the air alright?" The class nodded in agreement as he turned to face them. "Realize once you develop the proper throw the power will come naturally. So for today you are lightly tossing them." He waved them forward to start, spinning the shuriken between his hand slightly.

Naruto stepped towards the target, close enough that he could just make out the old marks in the board. Iruka handed him a few shuriken than moved on to the next kid. The blades were dull, slightly bent out of shape from the consent wear and tear throughout the years.

"I started throwing these like last year with my mother." Kiba sneered holding his blade up.

"If thats so Kiba would you like to be the first to demonstrate?" Iruka smiled from behind him. Narrowing his eyes Kiba started to mumble stuff about his arm hurting at the moment. Clapping his hands together to get their attention Iruka looked to the very end of the line. "Ah Sasuke, would you like to start." His tone didn't hold room for argument as everyone turned to watch the raven hair boy readjust his feet. Then in the blink of the eye he released three of his blades at the same time. Naruto watched as they sailed through the air, the thud of them landing in the center of the target sounding around the clearing. They were all silent as they looked between his target and him.

"Sasuke's amazing!" Sakura and Ino giggled to each other, turning to smile at the other girls in the class. Iruka smiled softly, expecting nothing less from the Uchiha.

"If you paid attention to his form, it was perfect. He wasn't trying to slam or fling the blades, he allowed them to essentially slip from his grasp. Earning the proper trajectory he desired. Good job Sasuke." Another round of the girls cheering followed his explanation. Sasuke paid no attention as he slipped his hands back into his pockets. Iruka let them go off on their own, watching from behind as they attempted to copy the Uchiha.

Naruto readjusted his feet, narrowing his eyebrows as he pushed his right foot back. Looking up he stared right at the center of the board, the small red circle screaming at him. Placing his thumb across the center of the star shaped blade he pulled his arm back and threw it forward. He watched as it spun slightly in the air before just barley nicking the surface of the target and falling to the floor. He stood, his arm outstretched as he glared at the target.

"This is so troublesome." Shikamaru muttered from his left as he tossed the blade lazily.

"You're just upset that you actually have to do something." Choji replied as he hurled his at the target.

"Easy Choji!" Iruka yelled from behind Hinata, "I said lightly toss!"

"Yes Iruka-sensei." Choji replied lowering his head. Naruto straightened, his eyes following Sasuke's star as it hit it's mark straight on again.

"Sasuke-kun!" Ino screeched from beside him in amazement.

" _Sasuke-kun_." Naruto mimicked, pulling out another shuriken and tossing it at the target. This time it stuck, but nowhere near the center.

"It an Uchiha thing." Shikamaru murmured. He turned, eyebrows raised, surprised he was talking to him.

"What is?" Shikamaru shrugged, pulling out another star.

"Shurikenjutsu. Something they specialized in. He's just falling into his destiny." Naruto watched as the Nara released the blade, it spinning widley before sinking deep into the center of the board. "Lucky shot." He whispered meeting Naruto's gaze. The sound of blade meeting wood sounded around the clearing, so did the cries of Sasuke's fangirls.

"The Uchiha's really had it made for themselves huh?" Naruto muttered, watching as Shikamaru glanced at his board.

"Something like that I guess. Your forcing the throw, let it just slip from your grip." He resumed his training leaving Naruto alone in his thoughts as he tried to process how you were supposed to let it slip, but also maintain enough pressure to guide it.

XXX

The bell for lunch sounded. His classmates all jumped up in joy, grabbing their bags and rushing outside for the warm weather. Naruto stayed back, his hands fumbling with his bento box as he watched the last of the kids leave. Sasuke stopped eating outside when he came back, he preferred to be alone these days. Taking a deep breath he spun around and looked up to where the boy sat. He was picking through his bento box, looking anywhere but at him.

"Sasuke.." He started, getting the boys attention, "...why'd you cut me off." He didn't exactly know what to say so he settled on that. It was true, the boy had cut him off in a sense. They no longer met up for training or talked once they got Iruka's lessons. He understood with the Uchiha massacre that he would need his space, but he had given him three months to brood and shut himself out. It wasn't good for him to keep at this behavior of closing people off. He had to re-immerse himself into the class, but he was doing just the opposite. Every day he seemed to be farther and farther from the boy he once knew. He's not saying the Sasuke before the massacre was a ray of sunshine, but at least he had someone...a friend of some sort.

Sasuke lowered his chopsticks slightly, looking like he might speak but he just narrowed his eyes. Sighing Naruto slammed his box on a nearby table.

"Look I get it! Something happened and it sucks, it really does. I thought if I had given you space you would get better over time, but it's been months Sasuke. This isn't healthy." He was waving his arms around frantically as he spoke, and yet Sasuke gave no sign that he cared. Naruto felt his eyes prickling with tears he would not shed. Rubbing at his face he growled in frustration. "I want my friend back oaky." The room grew quiet. Sasuke looked him over before he opened his mouth.

"What makes you think we were ever friends in the first place." He sneered, his eyes burning with something he couldn't quite place. Naruto faltered slightly, his mouth opening and than closing in shock. Clenching his jaw he turned to look out the windows, willing himself to not show any of the turmoil he felt. He stood there for a moment regaining his bearings before he reached out for his bento box and stalked out into the hallway. He didn't stop as he passed the door that led into the courtyard-no he kept going until he hit the front doors. Pushing them open he stumbled down the stairs, finding his way over to the old single swing.

Throwing himself down he leaned against the fraying rope, trying to calm his emotions that threatened to boil over. He didn't understand how Sasuke could say that. Of course they were friends. They had spent so much time together and sure they didn't exactly play like normal kids their age did, but that's not what shinobi did. Rolling his eyes he kicked the ground.

"Your nothing," He muttered to himself, "You have no one and you never will." Biting his lower lip he closed his eyes, ignoring the ringing of the bell signaling lunch was over. He didn't care.

XXX

That's how Iruka found him thirty minutes later. He didn't say anything as he kneeled in front of him. Naruto sighed looking up at his teacher.

"Skipping class?" Iruka asked with a half smile. Shaking his head he leaned it against the rope, looking up into the branches of the old tree.

"Something like that I guess." Iruka nodded looking down and than back up to him.

"You don't become great from skipping class, you know that right?" He stated, one of his eyebrows raised. Naruto pursed his lips. He couldn't stay and pout out here. Just because someone hurt his feelings didn't mean he would let it get in the way of his future. Besides, emotions were stupid, he decided. What was the point to him feeling like crap.

"Your right Iruka-sensei." He stood, his legs cracking a bit as he stretched. Iruka stood also, grabbing his unopened bento box.

"Let's go." He murmured leading Naruto back into class.

The class was silent as they entered. Naruto took the bento box from him, his gaze wandering up to his seat next to Sasuke. They weren't friends. He finally understood Ryo's hate towards him. They got everything handed to them, being so skilled without any practice needed. Standing a bit straighter he headed towards an empty seat next to kiba. Iruka smiled, turning to look at the schedule.

"Well class tomorrow we start sparring with each other, so make sure to get a good night's rest in order to be in top shape for it." Naruto noted how louder his voice seemed the closer he was.

"I'm ready to go right now!" Kiba screeched startling him. It was a big contrast to Sasuke's coldness and he found himself enjoying it.

XXX

Naruto stops on the steps when he notices Ryo leaning against the gates. Quickly he heads over to him.

"What are you doing here?" He asks, turning to look back at the other kids pouring out of the building.

"Well Ms. Calo finally decided to bite the dust. The rest of the classes were canceled for the day so I thought I would come get you." Naruto noticed he wasn't looking at him as he talked. No. He was searching for someone, a certain boy with raven hair and dark eyes he concluded. Craning his neck around he spotted Sasuke exiting the building, his fangirls directly behind him. Looking back to Ryo he noticed his clenched jaw, the unnatural rigidness his body held. Almost like he was preparing for a fight. He had only seen him like this once before, the day they had first met.

 _Naruto was about four years old. He was sitting on the swings in the yard by himself. The other kids his age happily playing with each other._

 _"What do you think your doing here?" His eyes shift up to two of the older boys. They must be around nine...maybe getting close to ten. He couldn't tell for sure. "Hey i'm talking to you," his eyes trail over to the skinner one, his brown hair laying limp against his head. He notices he wears arm bands around his wrist and elbows. The other one, who was a bit chubbier, doing them also. Except his looked like they were about to snap off at any second. "Get up," he sneers pulling Naruto up from the swing grabbing the hem of his t-shirt. A laugh breaks out between him._

 _"Look at his little marks." The chubby one laughs, poking his finger painfully into Naruto's cheeks at his whiskers._

 _"Stop it." He wines, struggling to get free from the boys grip. The one holding him peers at his cheeks._

 _"Your right, looks like a cat got to you. What are you a scaredy cat!" His friend erupts in a fit of laughter at the stupid name. He continues to poke at his cheeks, dragging his nails across them. "Got any special powers from these things?"_

 _"Let go!" Naruto yells, tears streaming down his face as he scratches at the boys arm. He can see the boys frustration and before he realizes it he feels his fist colliding with his face. Dropping him without care on to the dirt. Naruto feels the warm blood leaking from his nose, his head dizzy and foggy from the impact._

 _"Wanna try that again scaredy cat?" The boys sneer, reeling back their feet to kick him when a voice calls out._

 _"Leave him alone." They both stop, looking up to see a kid with short, spiky black hair standing between the swings. His fist are clenched at his sides._

 _"Run along or you'll be next." The chubby boy threatens, but the new kid doesn't flinch. Naruto pulls himself up to a sitting position, trying to scoot away from everyone._

 _"We aren't done with you scaredy cat." The skinny boy yells, reaching out to grab him again when the new kid slaps his arm away._

 _"I said leave him alone." This kid's voice is strong, certain in his abilities. The skinny boy looks up through his brown locks, irritation clear in his face._

 _"You wanna play hero?" He mocks, reeling his fist back. Naruto flinches as he throws it at the kid, his eyes growing wide when the boy catches it._

 _"I said," he whispers, slowly twisting the boys arm. "To leave him alone." Naruto gasps when he hears a crack, the skinny boy screaming out in pain as the new kid breaks his hand with ease. "Go." He mutters in disgust as he throws his arm down. The two bullies glance between them before running back inside. Carefully Naruto pokes his nose, flinching at the pain. The new kid bends down to look at him, smiling slightly. "They got you good," he brings his sleeve up gingerly, wiping away some of the blood. "I'm Ryo." he smiles and Naruto allows himself to smile back._

 _"I'm Naruto." He murmurs, taking Ryo's outstretched hand as he pulls him back up._

"Forget it." Naruto mutters, blinking as the memory fades. Ryo tears his eyes away from Sasuke to look at him. "He's not worth it." Shouldering his bag he pushed past his older friend and away from the academy. Ryo glances back at Sasuke before jogging after him.

"Did he do something to you? I thought you guys were buddies." Naruto snorts at the word buddies.

"We aren't buddies and we never were." Ryo's strides are slightly bigger, pushing Naruto to keep up.

"I'll do something." Ryo mutters, glancing over to him. Naruto stops biting his lip in frustration.

"I don't need you to do something, this is different okay! These aren't the classic backyard bullies where you just have to intimidate them. This is on a different level and it's my fight." Ryo stares, shocked at his outburst. Naruto runs his hands through his hair in anger, gripping the locks painfully. "I got this okay, I don't need your help." Naruto watches as he scoffs, turning to look down the road at a stray dog sniffing in the garbage.

"You know something Naruto," he starts raising a finger to point at him. "Ever since you got the almighty call to come be a shinobi you've become a real ass. Treating us all like we are suddenly beneath you or something." Naruto scoffs, crossing his arms.

"That's not true. You're the one who's changed. Your jealous all the time. I see it!" Ryo shakes his head, his eyes downcast.

"Your trying to be someone amazing, but the hard truth is that your nothing." Before he can stop himself Naruto lashes out, his fist slamming into Ryo's nose. Blood erupts from it, dripping down his chin and onto his shirt. "How ironic." He mutters spitting on the ground before turning and marching down the road. Naruto watches him go, growling in frustration as he flexes his hand pissed that it didn't hurt. The familiar chakra signature appears behind him, leaves blowing out around him. He latches onto the man's arm, his vision slightly red as everything starts to swirl.

* * *

He slashed out with his kunai, aiming for her throat. She spins, slamming her elbow where his head used to be if he hadn't ducked and rolled away. Springing back onto his feet he is immediately put on the defense as she sends punch after punch at him. He grits his teeth as he meets everyone of them with his forearms. Before she can pull back he grabs her wrist, twisting it in, forcing her down. He barely registers his lengthed nails, which resembles claws, as he drives his knee into her face or would have if she didn't shushin behind him. A quick chop to the neck sends him to the ground. He scrambles to regain his feet as she aims a kick to his side, which he just barely missed. Taking the opportunity of her unbalance stance he swings his legs at her one standing leg. Not able to move in time she crashed to the floor, rolling away from his outstretched arms. He snatches his kunai off the floor, looking up when she kicks him square across the face. The force sends him flying backwards, grasping the floor for his blade when she steps on his hand, leaning down to press hers against his throat.

Danzo watches the match end, his focus more on the small cut on the women's exposed skin. It wasn't much, but it was something.

"Excellent." He murmurs, standing from his seat. The women steps off of Naruto, who scrambles to pull himself up. Danzo peers down at his hands, smiling to see his nails are back to normal. It was the first time the fox had shown his presence in their two years of training. He was a curious man, wondering what brought it on today. "Your getting more confident in your abilities and moving around." He noted, bending down to retrieve his kunai. "I suggest holding on to this and you possibly could have ended the fight sooner. You surprised her with swinging her leg out from under her, but yet you were scrambling for your weapon." He stepped in front of him, noticing that he was taller since they had met last week. Carefully he pointed the tip of the blade into his shoulder, pushing against it slightly. "Let your body become a weapon, and with that you are ready for any fight." He gazed into the boys eyes, searching for any trace of pain. Detecting nothing he smiled, dropping the blade onto the floor. "I will be away from the village for the next few days, I leave tonight." He watched as the boys eyes fell, uncertainty filling them.

"But wha-" He started to ask when Danzo cut him off.

"Kira here will oversee your training for the next few days." Naruto opened his mouth in question when the woman next to him stepped forward. So that was her name, Kira. "Mask off." Danzo ordered. Kira complied, reaching up to remove her bird mask and revealing her face. Naruto couldn't lie, he was curious. He had been sparring with her for the past year and had never seen her face until now. Her eyes were a shade of brown that was pretty common, her hair a shade darker than that. Her cheek bones were the main focus to her face. They were very prominent, sending shadows below them and giving her jawline the appearance of sharp edges.

"Nice to meet you." He mumbled out. She smirked peering to look at him.

"We have known each other for the past year Naruto-kun, seeing my face for the first time shouldn't throw you off." Naruto nodded, his cheeks faintly heating up.

"Now that we are all acquainted," Danzo muttered. "You have a meeting with the Hokage in about five minutes." He turned to Naruto who looked stunned.

"What? Why?" He gasped, his voice lower than usual.

"A check in I suppose." Danzo murmured waving his hand in the air. "We should really get going you don't want to keep him waiting." He stuck his arm out for the boy to take. In a flash they stood before the Hokage tower. Naruto blinked, shielding his eyes from the sudden shift in light intensities. "I would hope you remembered where to find him, correct?" Naruto nodded already pushing the doors open. He climbed the wooden steps with shaky legs. He hadn't been here since his very first day at school two years ago. So much had happened since then. He had changed so much. However he could still recall what he told him before he left.

 _"I'm rooting for you."_

Laughing he wondered if he would still be on his side. He stopped before the great wooden doors, the two anbu guards stationed on either side. Carefully he raised his hand and banged against it.

"Come in." He heard someone call. Aware of the sweat rolling down his neck he pushed the door open, revealing the Hokage situated at his desk surrounded by mountains of paperwork, his pipe hanging from his mouth.

"Ah Naruto-kun, my boy come in." He murmured setting the papers down. He smiled, resulting in his eyes to squint. Naruto made his way over to the spare chair in front of the desk, sinking into the worn leather. "So how have you been?" He looked around, his eyes landing on the portraits of the previous Hokage.

"I'm well." He whispered taking in their faces. Sarutobi nodded, resituationing his pipe and leaning back to take the boy in. He had grown immensely over the two years. He wasn't as scrawny as he used to be, he had put on some muscle since then. His hair was also longer, his bangs reaching below his chin. He noticed the tiredness his face held, dark purple circles underneath each of his eyes. Must not be sleeping properly, he noted blowing out a whiff of smoke.

"You're studies are going well I suppose? Iruka tells me you are second in the class." Naruto blushes, knitting his hands together. "Just behind Sasuke." Sarutobi caught the boys shift at his name. His nervousness stilled, his eyes narrowing slightly. Leaning forward he places his elbows on the desk. "I must apologize, I know you two were friends and I had planned to see you sooner with the Uchiha massacre, but as you can see my hands became full." He sheepishly gestured to the papers around them.

"I understand Hokage-sama." He murmured peering up into his eyes, "Things have been different ever since that incident." Sarutobi nodded, struck by the sudden rage growing in his eyes. It was a huge shift from his boyish, bright azul from minutes ago. Now they were darker, and if he looked close enough he detected faint flickers of violet in the mix. Removing the pipe he tried to smile, agreeing with the boy. He was aware that he had been training with Danzo for over two years by now. Exactly what he was being taught he wasn't sure. Danzo rarely gave him reports and when he did they were short and sweet. He worried for the child before him. His hands were tied in the matter at this point, but he could at least try to see him more frequently. He was still so young, the path before him wasn't set in stone just yet. He moves the pipe between his lips, listening as Naruto retold Iruka's lesson from today. He would see to becoming a bigger presence in his life, he owed it to Minato.

* * *

The sun was setting as he reached the orphanages gates. He pushed the door open, his eyes landing on Ryo sitting on the stairs. As he approached him he noticed his nose was swollen, turning an ugly purple. He still had some dried blood on his chin that he probably missed. Stopping at the bottom step Ryo looked down at him.

"You were right," he murmured scratching the back of his neck. "I am jealous." Naruto kicked the bottom step lightly.

"Sorry about your face, it looks pretty bad." He watched as Ryo raised his hand to touch his swollen mess of a nose.

"I deserved it." Naruto agreed, moving to sit a step below him. "Look Naru...I don't have anyone else. You're all I got and suddenly you weren't here anymore, I didn't know how to act." Naruto rested his chin on his knees, squinting as the sun shined in his eyes.

"I was still here.." He murmured, turning to look up at him. Ryo looked tired and lonely. He hadn't noticed that before. His eyes spoke for something more, giving into his haggard state.

"Yeah hanging out with an Uchiha." He muttered, stretching his legs out.

"What's your deal with him in the first place. You don't even know him." Naruto pointed out, not trying to defend his ex friend.

"They are all like each other, once you know one you know about all of them," He dropped his head shaking it slightly. "You know those rumors about me? That I'm an Uchiha bastard child." Naruto nodded remembering how the kids would always scream it at him when they were younger. "Well there all true. My mother was rapped by an Uchiha who was out on a mission in her village, some village not worth remembering the name. When she had me she had nothing, no clan to claim her or money to help her. So she came to Konoha in hopes that the Uchiha would help her, but she was rejected. The head of the clan Uchiha Fugako," Naruto recognized Sasuke's dad. "She grew ill and with no money for help she died, unknown reason or they didn't have any to find out. I wasn't wanted at the clan. I was a mutt to them. They didn't even know if I possessed the sharingan, guess they were right. So Fugako sent me here." He raised his hands to gesture at the orphanage. "So my deal with them, if they had even entertained the idea of helping my mother and me, maybe she would still be alive today." Naruto sat stunned. He had never known anything about Ryo's life before the orphanage. He had come in when he was around six and he never spoke about his time before it and now he understood why. He also saw where his resentment to the Uchiha's came from. He blamed them for his mother's death.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, unsure of what else to say.

"So am I." Ryo muttered, fisting his hands into his pants.

"This might not be such a good time?" Danzo called out from the gate, startling both of the boys. Ryo blushed furiously, pissed that this man was able to hear about his life. Naruto frowned, not sure when Danzo had gotten there.

"Uh it's fine, what's up Danzo-sama." Naruto asked, glancing to Ryo to see if he was okay. Danzo pushed through the gate, walking up to them. His cane tapping against the concrete every step of the way.

"Well I just wanted to come tell you I am off. Kira will meet you for tomorrow, I want you to focus on utilizing your tanto's in the spar this time." Naruto nodded at his words. "You must be Ryo," Danzo smiled, sticking his hand out to the boy. "I've heard so much about you." Ryo stood to, grasping his hand to shake. Naruto faintly wondered when he had ever spoken about him to Danzo, nothing coming to mind. Danzo pulled Ryo closer, their eyes meeting for a fraction of a second but that was all the time he needed. Releasing the younger boys hand he grasped his cane again, waving goodbye to Naruto.

"That's odd." Naruto mused, turning back to Ryo. He noticed he looked slightly dazed, well he guess it's not everyday you meet an older man with such an intense grip. Naruto could testify to that. Ryo staggered back slightly, his eyes staring straight ahead into empty space. "Let's go get something to eat," Naruto suggested, standing and climbing the steps. Ryo stood where he was, not budging. Sighing Naruto grabbed him by the arm, breaking him from whatever trance he was in. "Hey come on." Ryo blinked a few times, looking around the yard as Naruto pulled him inside.

* * *

 _ **I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Excited for whats to come.**_

 _ **So if you like what you saw I would appreciate a review, they make me smile.**_

 _ **Anyways I need sleep. Sorry for any typos. I take my last exam tomorrow.**_

 _ **-Justliving11**_


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